Ocean's End
by VanillaSpiders
Summary: Au. 4 years ago, Danny Fenton created an unlikely bond with a merman nicknamed Phantom. Life is grand, up until the arrival of Circus Aquatica, where the sea monsters are performers. And not always the willing kind. It soon becomes apparent there's more to Freakshow and his traveling band of sea monsters than meets the eye. Final story to Fathoms Below. pitch pearl
1. Chapter 1

**Am I crazy for starting this and Starfall too? Absolutely. Crazy's not so bad.**

_**Chapter 1**_

* * *

It was mid-morning, and all fishing boats had left the docks hours ago. Something was currently making relatively large waves moving through the ocean. Really it was more like skimming. And this skimming continued past the docks, and was a good football field from the island, so it didn't really matter _what_ the rider of the interestingly colored Jet Ski did. The water surfer looked, by all appearances like it was nothing fancy. It was certainly slim, just like its single rider and the Ski was compact and the only thing of real interest was the words Fenton Master Ski in thick letters on its back flank. And perhaps the name of the vehicle, painted on its left front nose, '_Ghost_.' The words were currently a blur, as its rider shot it over the ocean, apparently alone.

The Jet Ski had made a long winding path with wide turns, creating a snake like bundle of waves in its wake. It petered out a bit, then headed on a much straight path, shooting over the waves with a mechanic roar. Danny Fenton was pressed almost flat against the seat, hands gripping the gears as he pointed the Jet Ski in a straight line and coasted out, nose pointed to the horizon.

It's at this point the rider looked over his shoulder, grinning widely at the fin he saw cresting above the water like a sharks. Except no shark was capable of doing this speed. The fin had three thin fingers with shimmering webbing between them, and streaked through Danny's just made waves with little problem. It waved in the sunlight, glistening as it moved. He turned back once to check the water in front of him, and by the time he looked over his right shoulder again, the fin was already four feet from him and closing the distance rapidly.

"C'mon! Is that the best you got!?" Danny shouted over the engine and the crashing waves. The fin flattened from the force of its movement as they became neck and neck. A huge black and tan shape was surging just below surface, ignorant of the waves made by Danny's Jet Ski. Suddenly the shape sank and the fin vanished. Danny smirked and turned to his left, watching the fin suddenly rise on that side. Once or twice, there was a flash of soft sea foam green amidst the dark blue of the sea, like flicks of a butterfly's wing. Another roll beneath the Ski and the fin was cresting through the waves on his right once more, righting itself from an absentminded roll. The human on the surface pointed the Jet Ski deeper over the waters, laughing. Danny flew atop the waves, as something was flying under.

Danny turned to his right again, watching with a grin.

The fin flattened and pulled back, changing its momentum from forward to _up_.

A second later, and with a loud roar, Phantom burst from beneath the waves, rolling upward and to the side. A huge set of pectoral fins snapped open and caught an air current, sending Phantom in a smooth arc right over Danny and the jet. His sea-green four finned tail was glistening in the sunlight, tiny diamonds of water flying everywhere as Phantom coasted overhead. Danny ducked, laughing from the exhilaration of it all.

The merman grinned down at him toothily as he rolled in mid air over the young man and Ski. The human whopped as Phantom slammed into the water on his left side and twirled, picking his speed back up stay by the jet's side.

"_Yes_!" That was Danny, watching the merman bound beside him easily.

Phantom jerked from the water but maintained a low height, leaping like a dolphin alongside the Jet Ski. The massive fins rowed and beat the water, providing extra momentum. Phantom continued this movement until suddenly he lifted higher from the water, and his hip fins spread again. The wide webbing of his pectoral fins arced gently as it caught the air and held Phantom above the water for a few more feet than normal. The merman was then suddenly back down in a smooth descent and went back to bounding above the waves at Danny's side.

Danny grinned down at him, reaching his hand down. A second later the merman smacked it in a high five and Danny yanked hard on the handles of the ski, making it bank to the right. He turned to face the oncoming waves he's just made, and hit the gas. He had a second to turn yank on his goggles and narrow his eyes in determination as the Jet Ski slammed into a wave and was sent careening sharply upwards. Danny went with it, up until the point gravity began pulling it down.

Danny stayed behind, letting go of the handles and shouting from the pure exhilaration of the weightlessness. He fell a few feet before taking a diving posture and nose diving into the ocean. He was only a little less graceful than Phantom, but come on, how could you compete with a merman? Riderless, the blue and green Jet Ski coasted to a stop and bobbed among the current, even as Danny himself slowed from water's low force of gravity and he hung there in the deep blue a moment.

He opened his eyes, grinning around his bulging with air cheeks as Phantom swam around him in loose circles. The merman closed in and swam so close Danny spun with him, bubbles floating upwards as the human grinned. The merman swooped by again, the hip fins now beating the water every so often to allow tight turns and extra speed. A fin shifted and Phantom rolled to one side, heading back to Danny with a cheerful bellow. Danny moved his hand to his belt, quickly unclipping two green squares and letting them go. Then he straightened up and swam for the surface as quick as he could, because he needed air.

With a gasp the young man flung his head above ocean, sucking in lungfuls of air. He paused a moment, catching his breath, and simply enjoyed treading water in the middle of the ocean.

He spotted the fin coming up in front of him and had no time to react except to draw in a huge breath. It was slow, and smooth. Uh oh. Seconds later Phantom lunged out of the water and dived down on top of him with a happy warbling shout, slamming into Danny and sending them tumbling down under the waves. They went spinning under the water, Danny rolled and grinned as he felt Phantom stop wrestling with him and promptly haul him back to the surface.

He laughed breathlessly, treading water as he watched the silver haired merman poke his head out beside him, grinning widely. Phantom shook his head like a puppy, long stringy hair flicking every which way. Danny laughed and held up in his arms in surrender from the flicks of water.

After he was finished, Phantom looked over at him and smiled wryly.

"You know, I wasn't sure I was going to catch up with you, Mister I need two minutes head start." Phantom snorted in amusement. He grinned, bearing his four pointed canines. Anyone else might have been fearful in the presence of such sharp teeth, but Phantom wasn't exactly a wolf, and Danny was certainly no Red Riding Hood.

No, Danny was far from most people. Phantom loved him for it.

"Aw, I had faith in you pal." Danny said easily, fiddling with a bracelet around his wrist under the water. There was a faint beep from the Jet Ski a good 4 yards away, and suddenly the engine purred to life and it began moving toward their position slowly.

"That was your first jump you made it without your tail hitting the ski or me this time. What happened, did you catch the wind just right? Lucky timing?" Danny shot back.

"Pfft. _Please_ Minnow. My timing is always nothing less than masterful." Phantom tossed his head proudly as Danny clambered onto to the suddenly much closer Jet Ski. The engine died, lifeless once more.

"So you _wanted_ to hit your tail those last times we tried the jump. Right. Got it." Danny nodded, making an 'ah' face. Danny went on.

"I'll have to put that in the records Mom keeps. 'Phantom enjoys almost hitting things and throwing his flight pattern completely off balance. Check for head injuries.'" He added with a cheeky grin at the merman.

"...keep that talk up and I won't give your weights back." Phantom snorted up at him, holding the two squares Danny had pulled off his waist before ascending.

"Wow. Touchy." Danny reached down snatched one little green block and clicked it back onto the weight belt with the other three. Phantom tossed him the other and swam up to the Ski.

"Thank you." Danny sat back with a happy noise, adjusting his goggles.

He looked around at where they were, a good two and a half miles out in the open sea. They floated there a moment, falling into a comfortable silence. Phantom floated by his side, and Danny leaned over the handles of the Fenton Ski, getting lost in the peaceful view that spanned before them.

"You wanna go again?" He finally asked, still staring out at the soft cerulean horizon.

"You have to be back to help your parents unload their boat, Minnow." Phantom's words were gentle, but had a hint of maturity to them that Danny was usually envious of. Except right now.

"And you promised Samantha you'd go with her and Tucker to that movie." The merman reminded.

"Well, yeah…" Danny shrugged. "But they won't know. We can say I lost track of time. That my watch needs a new battery. Or something."

"Hmm." Phantom's head fins flicked back and forth as he eyed his human. The long curly ends of his head fans that had grown in one year ago bobbed from the movements. His larger frills waved gently before flattening.

"You don't want to go back to land." Phantom surmised. He didn't have to phrase it like a question. He knew Danny too well for that. Danny deflated a second later, caught. He shrugged and glanced tiredly at his best friend.

"It's not that, it's just…you know. Work. College. Vlad."

The merman shot a look at him at the last word and growled under his breath his breath, curling his lip back to expose his long canines. An animalistic sound that was as threatening as it sounded. Danny wasn't surprised at it, he didn't even flinch. It wasn't like Phantom was growling at _him_, anyway.

"I know, I know." Danny rubbed the back of his head and made a face himself.

"I don't _care_ how helpful that man has been. I hate that how your parents have just let him live with you!"

"I know Phantom." Danny tried, but it was no use. Phantom was off now, waving his hand dramatically out of the water.

"And help with their projects! Humans forgive too easily, I've always said that." The words were rough and broken by Phantom's snarls and hisses, but after four years Danny knew exactly what the merman was saying.

"It's a treacherous habit, Minnow, one that can come back around to—"

"'To bite you in the tailfin,' I know, Phantom."

"To bite you in the tailfin! Yes!" His hand came down with a splash and a disgruntled snort.

Danny smiled a tiny bit at Phantom's predictably. Same old Phantom.

"You're even using his equipment still, I see." Phantom grumbled, swimming on his back to gaze reproachfully at what Danny was sitting on as it slowly moved toward the Island.

"Hey, it says _Fenton_ Masters Jet Ski. Fenton first. Besides…after our last accident mom wouldn't let me leave the docks without it." Danny rolled his eyes. He glanced at the high tech ski, unable to stop from patting its side. It had already helped them out on more occasion than one, to be honest. And it was nice that it had the Call Back feature so Danny didn't have to swim after it every time, among a few other gizmos and gadgets he and his Dad had both built. Vlad was just the bank, basically. Danny was quite anal about letting the man have anything to do regarding sea equipment, especially if Danny knew it was going to be used around his 'other half.'

"You did break your arm…At least it's of some use, Yes." Phantom relented when he recalled that, and sighed. He wasn't in a hurry to panic that much again. Four years of being so close had really only increased the merman's protectiveness over his human. Phantom would swallow his pride if came down to Danny's wellbeing, and they both knew it. Danny just tried not to take too much advantage of it.

"No, I thought I broke my arm before that. Wasn't it when we crashed into those rocks? Well, when I did." Danny asked. Phantom shook his head.

"Incorrect Minnow. The rocks were from you being unable to see me so you drove too close to the beach, got stranded and thrown off from the waves. And _then_ you landed on the rocks. To this day I still don't know how you didn't break open your skull."

"Oh, right." Danny frowned in mild confusion. "What am I thinking off?"

Phantom shrugged.

"Either way, the Jet Ski is staying. And just because Vlad had a hand in making…most…of its upgrades and single handedly funding Mom and Dad's research doesn't mean we all love the guy." Danny snorted. "I certainly don't."

"Yet still he remains." Phantom's tone wasn't lost on the human, who shot him a faint reprimanding glare.

"Well, Jazz had a good point. With him always so close by we can tell if he decides to _do_ anything. The whole families keeping an eye on him. Okay, except Dad. But Dad's not the greatest for that kinda stuff."

"And the second that traitorous bastard does anything, you will bring him to me to be dealt with. _That_ was the deal Clockwork and your family made."

Danny snorted. "Not if you keep swearing like that. Now I know where sailors get it from. You guys!" He laughed at his own little joke.

Phantom sniffed and wiggled his ear frills, turning his nose up. "It was Samantha's fault she taught me those words. I only learn by example."

"Uhuh, _sure_." Danny grinned, ducking when Phantom's huge tail swung water at him playfully.

"It was, Minnow!"

"Yep." Danny popped the p, putting his goggles back on. He was going to need them for the ocean spray.

"Race ya back to Amity." Danny grinned.

Phantom was sitting there, back to him, arms crossed.

"….Phantom?" Danny ventured, leaning over, worried he might have actually hurt the merman's feelings for once. The merman stared up at, face unreadable.

"Looser has to help the Clock Worker organize the weapon cave." Phantom said quickly, before diving out of sights with a flash of his fins.

"Aw—hey no fair! Dammit Phantom!" Danny gunned the Jet as quick as he could to make up for the lost distance as Phantom plunged ahead.

"Phantom!"

The merman's cackling could be heard as Danny chased his tail all the way to back shore.

**oOo**

To Danny's credit, he had every intention was making to the docks on time. He really, truly did. He knew exactly what he was going to do and how in order to assure he'd meet up with Sam and Tucker before the movie started. Heck, before even the previews started, if luck was on his side.

Sadly, it was not.

His race with Phantom was completely and utterly lost when he spotted something moving to his far left. It had just streaked out of his vision, and was moving too fast to be a boat. Danny turned to look without thinking, a glint of sunlight giving the thing's position away. It had to be a Jet Ski, like his.

Except there weren't any of that color and size in Amity's bay. It was a small bay, and Danny knew. Still coasting over the waters, Danny kept watching the Ski Rider. And the closer he got, the better the soft blue haze lifted and he could see the Ski and rider better. The suit had a lot of red, and a bit of black. Strangest of all was the fact the person was wearing a helmet, leaving Danny with no way to identify whoever it was that was moving round a certain spot of Amity's cove.

They were strangely near a sect of little caves and tide pools, too.

"Weird…" He muttered, pointing the nose of his Ski toward the other rider. It could have been someone just taking a new Ski out for a ride. Which was fine, except that part was sort of restricted, mostly because of the merfolk that lived below those waters. It wasn't illegal, just highly recommended. Rocks kept away boats, but even Phantom could get injured from a wild roaming Jet Ski. For the most part, locals simply avoided the spot out of common courtesy. That and, a merman could defend its territory by tipping you over. Danny bit his lip, worrying internally. And he was just plain curious, he couldn't help it. He shoved his drying bangs out of his eyes and considered the situation for a moment, chewing his lip. Oh, a quick look wouldn't kill him, right? They just wouldn't get to see the previews, was all.

He heard Phantom ahead of him change directions too, shooting a questioning yapping noise at him. After receiving no answer, Phantom's green eyes roamed across the horizon, and landed on what Danny was currently captivated with. Phantom murred in curiosity, and Danny knew what he was thinking.

The small Jet Ski vanished behind the rocks with hardly a wave. You didn't move like that unless you were aiming for stealth. And who the hell aimed for stealth on a joyride on their new Jet Ski? Something was fishy here, merman treading water at his excluded. Danny slowed his own ride down, coasting to a stop. Beside him, Phantom stopped too, and popped his head out of the water.

"Did you see that?" Danny muttered to his friend.

Phantom snorted and cast him a look as if to say, of course he had.

"Well…come on. Let's go check it out."

Phantom gave a hesitant snort, but obediently slipped under the water, swimming after his human. They made it to the area, and Danny had to kill the engine to avoid getting the Ski stuck in seaweed or worse, hitting someone below them. Thankfully, Phantom was there. The merman shoved against the back of the ski like he usually did, guiding it into the shallows. Phantom gave it a final smack with his tail and it drifted nearly atop some rocks. The ski bobbed as Danny clambered off. He hooked his goggles over a handle, and jabbed a little red button on the dash with a finger. There was a beep, and under the Ski a slot opened up. A tiny clasping, metal mouth shot out on a thick bit of cord and was fired into the sandy turf, anchoring deeply into the ground. Now, the ski could drift as much as the taught cord allowed, and nothing short of an earthquake would get the claw from the deep sand it had wedged itself into. One of his Dad's better inventions, to be honest.

"Ready?" Danny asked as he waded up toward the mouth of the biggest cave. The water was soon dropping from his waist to knees, before finally stopping at his calves. Phantom followed him up until the opening. Suddenly his frills flattened, and his nose wrinkled. The merman snorted like he was trying to get rid of the scent and curled his lip, shaking his head.

Danny glanced down at the recoiling merman.

"Phantom…"

The merman balked and glanced at him.

"Oh, come on. Whatever it is it can't be that bad. Probably just some old shellfish or a dead eel." Danny coaxed the merman in. And because Phantom knew Danny would go in with or without him, the merman eventually slunk in after him, glancing warily into the dark tunnel. Water sloshed softly from their movements, but the tide was out. Danny didn't see or hear another human yet. There wasn't even any sign of that strange red Ski. This was just getting weirder, to be honest.

"I can't see a thing." Danny muttered, resting a hand against the wall to feel his way.

"Gimmie a little light, yeah buddy?"

The merman, wiggling through the shallow water by his right side, complied with a warble. A moment later the merman's grayed scales illuminated, casting him and some of Danny in an unearthly glow. It at least gave the human enough light to see where he was going so he didn't trip over a rock and break his ankle. The illuminated tail moved with him, Phantom's own eyes sizzling an eerie green in the darkness.

"See anything?"

"No. But I smell something." Phantom growled, sneezing suddenly. Despite this, Danny walked forward.

"Smell? What do you—oh, _god_," The stench didn't hit Danny. It walked up behind him, dragged him into a back alley and mugged him of his senses for a good two minutes. Danny recoiled, grabbed his mouth and nose as his eyes watered. The only reason he didn't topple in the surf was Phantom's huge tail gently bumping him forward to regain his balance. Danny did, clumsily, and ventured further. The cave was ending soon; a little tiny rocky beach was barely visible from the glow of Phantom's scales. Danny knew the smell, but it was magnified. Whatever fish had died, this one was _big_.

And lying on the beach, taking up most of it, was a long still body. Scales glimmered, and so did blood and wide, glassy eyes. Hair was matted in its eyes. Danny's heart skipped a few beats, staring in horror at the body of a merperson. He couldn't make out much, but what features he did, none he recognized.

"God, shit, P-Phantom…what," Danny tried, at a loss for words. Beside him, Phantom scowled and shook his head, frills flapping this way and that like a dog trying to shake water from its fur. He didn't like this one bit, and he edged closer to Danny, glowing eyes raking through the darkness for any answers. There were hardly any. Blood, torn skin and scales and fins. A dead body. That was it.

"They were mauled. And they have been dead for a while, Minnow." Phantom muttered simply, softly. He wasn't the sort of sympathetic, bleeding heart his human was, but he certainly didn't think little of Danny for his reaction. Besides, just because he didn't feel remorse didn't mean he was cruel. He was uneasy about the whole problem, because this meant something was out there attacking merfolk and just letting the body wash up. They wouldn't have found it if not for the red Jet Ski they had been following. They had no way of knowing if this was the only body, after all.

"Shit…" Danny moaned, feeling helpless and not liking it one bit.

Danny turned away from the gruesome scene, closing his eyes. He took a breath, and let it out slowly. He heard movement, water sloshing a bit. Water always gave away your position if you were in it, only Phantom could slip soundlessly though water. The noise wasn't particularly quiet, nor was it loud. Someone currently was, up at the mouth of the cave.

Danny spun on one foot, quickly snapping his fingers. Immediately the illuminated merman down by his side darkened his body. His scales melted to darker than black. He felt Phantom's long body curl around him, knew the gentle brush at his ankle was Phantom's huge fluke, spread protectively in front of Danny. He could imagine Phantom's slight bearing of his teeth, too. The figure at the mouth of the cave was just standing there, backlight by the shining sun outside. They were cornered, at least, to Danny they were. One glance into the dark told him Phantom wasn't in an 'ask questions first' mood.

"Easy…" Danny muttered, moving to a crouch. The word was more for his own nerves than they were for Phantom, but the merman responded anyway. He continued his defensive posture, muscles tensing up just a bit as he regarded the newcomer guardedly. The fond, large black pupils were gone and in their place, thin lines of black with toxic green surrounding them bore out from the dim light.

There was nothing to be done for the poor creature behind them. They hadn't gotten there in time, and who knows how long it had been there to begin with. Danny saw the figure slowly reach for something at their hip, their red outfit blotted by various black straps and other pockets. Being backlight by the outside did nothing to help Danny ascertain who or what was standing there like that, blocking their only exit.

"Not very friendly, huh pal?" Danny breathed to his merman.

Phantom hissed softly, a sound like hot water hitting a sun baked stone. The noise was an agreement, and a warning to the stranger that Phantom wasn't feeling very friendly himself. Danny didn't blame him.

No mistaking it, this was the rider he'd seen before. A thousand questions whirled in Danny's head in that instant. And he almost asked them, until he saw a thin glint of metal. Sharp. Knife. Danny's heart beat sped up.

And like that, Danny decided he was in a no questions mood too.

Holding his hand out, he made sure to position so Phantom could see his fingers.  
Tucking all his fingers into a fist, Danny calmly lifted his pointer finger. One. Danny kept his blue eyes locked on the slowly repositioning figure, going for something else, as if the knife wasn't enough. A net? Gun—with bullets? Danny didn't want to stick around and find out.

Danny's middle finger joined his pointer. Two.

Danny knew body language when he saw it. If you didn't, you wouldn't last a second down in the sea. This person wasn't here to make friends. That posture was so far from friendly it had come round the other way. Well, they couldn't afford to stick around any longer. Time to fallback and regroup.

_Three_.

The third finger flicked and Phantom sprung into action the second he saw it. Uncoiling his body, he rose and plunged into the ocean, taking advantage of the sudden rising tide. An arm and a fin had wrapped round Danny's body and he sucked in air, trustingly letting himself be yanked into the black sea. Phantom charged at the entrance of the cave, dorsal fin poking out from the shifting water. His tail pumped and the large fins folded, decreasing resistance. Danny grabbed hold of Phantom's dorsal, and simply hung on, putting his head down as he heard Phantom start up his trademark wailing shriek.

Something splashed clumsily out of their way. Danny didn't blame them. Few things had come out on top of Phantom's glare. Add in about 350 pounds of wailing, powerful muscle plunging at you like a train on a one way track, most things only scattered quicker.

What he did not expect, was the glint of steel as something dark streaked _toward_ them. The raised arm holding the short knife swung down, and the only reason it didn't find purchase in Phantom's skin was because Danny had pushed he and Phantom both apart, gurgling bubbles as he pointed to their sudden attacker. Danny sank from the effort, but Phantom was already moving over him to shield him and assess the situation briefly. Phantom shrieked angrily as he saw what was going on, and swung his tail around. It connected hard with the person's waist and slammed them against the cavern wall.

Phantom righted himself in half the time it took for their attacker to get their breath back. The merman reared up, spreading all his fins in an aggressive action. He was half out of the water as he swiped his claws out and reached for the masked person. Instead of English, he roared his displeasure at their brazen actions. They had good reflexes, whoever they were. The figure rolled back, which is maybe why their clothes got shredded a bit instead of their stomach getting eviscerated like Phantom was aiming for. But Danny had clambered to his feet in the shallow surf and scrambled to get hold of the situation, and his merman.

"Phantom, _stop_!" He commanded, throwing a hand out. They didn't need more bloodshed, and sometimes Phantom didn't know his own strength when it came to others. (Then again, maybe he _did_, which was just as scary.)

Withdrawing his nails inches from the ducked person's neck, the merman grumbled but went for the knife instead with a swat of his ebony claws. A simple switchblade was snatched, and Phantom pressed it into Danny's hand when he swam back over to him. Now they stood, Danny and Phantom against on wall of the cave, and the person on the other, the opening to everyone's immediate left. Danny rubbed his cheek where he'd scrapped it on a rock under the water, and glared at the person across from them. He didn't pull out the switchblade or anything like that. Phantom was enough of a weapon, and Danny didn't really like violence.

"Look, I don't know how you think you are, but my friend and I don't appreciate this sort of thing!" Phantom growled beside him in agreement, his four fangs bared threateningly.

"And we don't appreciate hunters either on Amity, so if you came here to hunt merpeople—"

"Save it for your soapbox, fish boy," A voice spat. "You think you're the best thing to hit these waters since hooks, don't you? But you got another thing coming." The figure pointed to the back fo the cavern.

"That wasn't my fault, got it? Now stay out of my way!"

Danny couldn't quite place the voice, but he wasn't really focused on the tone or pitch or anything. He was angrier at the words, at the knife that had nearly been used to hurt his partner, at the dead merperson lying there in the back of the cave for the tide to wash out.

"How can I stay out of your way—I don't even know what you want!"

Phantom saw the person move before Danny did. Their hand moved. Something struck a rock, hard. Phantom tugged Danny right down and curled round him, shielding him with his wide fins and tail as smoke billowed out around them in a flash. Despite the merman's best efforts, Danny came out of the little tent coughing, trying to swat the annoying, albeit harmless smoke away.

They both heard something moving hastily through the water, but it was too their left.

"They're running—do we hunt them?" Phantom snarled, glaring over Danny's shoulder with dangerously slitted eyes. He still wasn't entirely convinced the threat was gone and wasn't letting Danny out from under him just yet. But Danny shook his head, gently but firmly freeing himself from the merman's larger girth. Phantom reluctantly lifted a pectoral fin.

"No. No…whoever they are…I guess their gone now." Danny coughed out, getting his breath back.

"And we don't hunt people, Phantom." Danny corrected quietly as he headed out of the cave. Phantom didn't convinced, but he moved into deeper waters and swam after Danny anyway. He gave the area a dark look, calculating look, listening to the soft fading noise of an engine.

Danny didn't have to check to see if Phantom was following. The merman lifted his head above the water as Danny was shoving his hair out of his eyes. He waded for the still anchored Jet Ski, relieved nothing had happened to it.

"Well that was…"

"Strange." Now certain there was nothing dangerous around, Phantom scratched an ear frill idily as he waited for Danny to disengage the anchor system and mount the Ski again.

"Yeah. I mean…what was that? _Who_ was that?"

"A human." Phantom supplied helpfully.

"A human, really? That's all you got?" Danny deadpanned. Phantom shrugged.

"I could smell them. It was a different scent. But they were human, and that was it."

"Well, any Spidey senses tingling on _what_ they were doing cornering us in a cave? You think they were responsible for the…the body we found?"

Phantom made a face, lips stretching as he gave a little shrug.

"It's…hard to say Daniel. The body wasn't that fresh to tell. And blood scent could be gone either by age or the ocean."

"Good point." Danny deflated, frowning as he slipped his goggles back on.

Phantom heard the anchor system recoil, and the merman helpfully shoved the Ski out of the shallows and deeper into the ocean. Danny started the engine, glancing at the sun.

"Well, we're late again." He winced, and had the decency to look sheepish.

"Too late to make your movie with your friends, Minnow." Phantom hummed at his left.

Danny nodded, then sighed heavily.

"Yeah. Sam's gonna kill me."

Phantom crooned softly at Danny's gloomy tone, but said nothing as they headed back towards the docks. That was fine, because Danny was lost in thought himself.


	2. Chapter 2

**Reading the reviews for this story helps me get out of bed. I mean, I get out anyway, it's just usually a good 20 minute difference. Reviews are like orange juice for my brain.**

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_**Chapter 2**_

Phantom hunted his prey quietly and skillfully. He'd flattened his fins and streamlined his body, slipping through the water without as much as a ripple. By moving with the surf his waves blended in with others. And above all, he was silent, black eyes slitted in deep concentration as he edged closer, _closer_. Almost there. His quarry was within his reach. He had only precious seconds before they could move and ruin the whole thing, which had to be prevented. No one escaped him.

He crouched down low, and froze. Far behind him, his huge fluke quivered and waved a bit as he prepared himself. Then Phantom lunged upwards, finding purchase in the wood with his nails and holding on. He sank his teeth viciously into the black fabric of his helpless prey and bit down, shaking his head. For good measure, he growled viciously.

There was a yell from the pant's owner, and a flurry of furious, highly amusing curses.

"Daniel! Get this—get _off_ of me you overgown guppy!"

Minnow's laughter reached Phantom's frills, and he looked up and over the dock planks to his human as he walked over. Mouth full of the fabric, Phantom still chirruped at Danny's approach. Danny was chewing on a piece of edible seaweed, and swallowed a mouthful before going,

"Phantom!" He tried to sound scolding. "Bad…merman…very bad. Don't you know you're not supposed to eat junk food?"

The merman cackled and relinquished Vlad's pant leg back to the blustering, red-faced man.

"It must be hard to speak when you're laughing so hard, Daniel." Vlad grumbled, stepping away and checking the state of his clothes. Soaked, or with a little hole in them.

"Another suit ruined."

The merman puffed his chest out proudly.

"You know, he wouldn't do it if you didn't react every time. You're only egging him on." Danny nodded sagely as he crouched down next to the merman that had leapt up on the docks. Danny tossed him the rest of the sea weed and Phantom snatched it, swallowing quickly. Delighted his human was down on his level now, Phantom shoved against him and crooned happily, rubbing their cheeks together and generally just being an affectionate little shit that everyone thought was cute and innocent. Danny and Vlad totally knew better, but Danny just thought it was hilarious. Besides, Phantom only did it to people who deserved it, and Vlad quite honestly, deserved a lot more. If you asked Danny at least.

"Hey, least he didn't drag you in." Danny grinned as he play wrestled with the merman briefly. Phantom cackled and tried to knaw on his shoulder, so Danny pulled one of those curled ear frills, watching it bounce back into a little curl. Phantom swatted his hands away.

"Yes. Another repeat of last Tuesday would be _just_ what I wanted." Vlad muttered dryly, regarding them both with a critical look. Danny grinned impishly, while Phantom gave him the most revolting, big eyed, innocent look, as if he didn't understand at all what Vlad was commenting about. Surely it must have been someone _else_ who dragged the stuffy man into the sea because Danny had said Vlad needed to 'cool off.' He was only helping his human with his suggestion after all.

When Vlad narrowed his eyes, Phantom cooed naively and blinked with cute pupils.

"There, see? He's sorry." Giving Phantom's silver hair a fond tousle, Danny straightened up. He really had to go now, and meet up with his human friends.

"You are both _children_." Vlad spat tiredly as he headed for the Fenton's boat.

"Damn straight." Danny grinned. "I'll see ya later, Phantom."

Though he had every knowledge of the English language to say goodbye, Phantom purred his own farewell and slipped back into the sea. Hunting Masters was all well and fine, but if Danny wasn't on the docks, Phantom wasn't really interested in hanging around. So back into the ocean he went.

**oOo**

"Look who finally decides to make an appearance."

Danny stopped so fast his sneakers squeaked on the NastyBuger's cheap linoleum. The boy wilted under the judging looks of his friends, and had the decency to look sheepish. Sam's look was enough to do it, her words just made him flinch. He brought his hands out of his pockets and held them briefly up in surrender.

"I, ah, got caught up?" He rubbed the back of his neck, giving an embarrassed grin.

"Dude, we know you were out on the ocean again."

Danny deflated at Tucker's remark, the latter didn't even look up from his PDA, he just jabbed toward Danny with the stylus. He stood before them at the booth they were sitting at, and massaged his sore shoulder where he'd smashed it on some rocks earlier.

"I'm sorry guys. I really am. It's just, uh, when we were heading back we…we found a…" At Danny's choppy, nervous words and earnest look of fear lacing his blue eyes, Sam and Tucker stopped pretending to be annoyed and cast him sympathetic looks.

"A what, man?"

"Uh…"

Danny didn't act like this for no good reason, and he'd seen so much out all there already, he knew the ocean better than even the fishermen. Whatever this was, it had scared their friend, and they didn't think that was possible anymore. Danny had seen it all.

Tucker shifted, giving him space to sit down so they could speak amongst themselves.

Danny did so, shooting them relieved looks as he leaned his elbows on the table. And in a hushed voice, began whispering the body and the other figure they'd encountered only this morning.

Even if his friends wouldn't have a solution, (which he was pretty sure they wouldn't,) it was still nice to tell someone else about it.

**oOo**

Aside from this morning, her day _had_ been going just fine.

Valerie Gray had had better days, sure. She'd gotten a new mission only a few days ago, which was good. Because she'd gotten paid half, and this was a big one. Her boss was great about paying, and the half now half later when she completed her job was just fine with her. There was only one mission she hadn't been paid in full for, and to this day she still cursed that stupid merman that got in her way.

Coasting gently over the smooth waves, Valerie kept half an eye out for what she was looking for, and another she turned inward. She thought back to the past few months, mentally check listing the odd jobs she'd been given to do. Cataloguing scale drop rate? Observing merfolk activity on full moons? Let's not forget tailing sirens for a day. There was that job with the ancient sea crab. That one had required a few showers after. Among some others, most of them included in some part, the lifestyle and behavior of the merpeople that lived around the waters on her home island. Among other oceanic related things.

She didn't much like them, to be honest. Ever since her Dad lost his fishing job, times had been rough. It was a little hard to compete with the denizens of sea itself, after all. Because of the treaty the Mayor had signed 4 years ago, almost half the local fishermen had simply gone and left to look for work elsewhere. The treaty stated, among other things, that merfolk and humans would attempt to get along better. None of this dragging your eternal soul into depths nonsense. (Also one of her favorite, longstanding missions. She was to report if she saw _any_ negative activity that she saw merfolk doing. Something she looked gleefully for.)

And the treaty also said a certain amount of fish would just be given to the humans in exchange for their protection and over all ocean awareness. Like some peace offering. The merfolk said this way they could tell what was leaving their waters, and no one would go hungry from over-fishing. Her Dad couldn't fish better than a merperson. So he'd been forced to sell his boat and get a job at some security company. It hadn't left them penniless, but it left them poor enough. Certainly not what she was used to. And all because of that Danny Fenton kid and his pet merman had killed a kraken and become heroes? Bullshit. They could have just called in the Navy or the Airforce or…or something.

Valerie really did try to not let her bitterness get in the way of her job. She really did. But sometimes she was weak, and it was just easy to give into temptation. Besides, they'd found her dead body. Well, not hers. But the one she was tracking. They clearly didn't know of the other two corpses that had washed up on the island either. They were too busy swimming around being idiots together.

Rolling her eyes skyward, Valerie pointed the nose of her Ski around a boulder, carefully navigating the rocks that littered this part of the shore.

She'd take this job for money. For some financial security for her and her Dad. She wasn't doing it for the merpeople, and she didn't want to be known for doing such research. (Which was good, because her boss insisted on her remaining as inconspicuous as possible, something he didn't need to tell her twice.) She was given weapons and tools, but only for defense. She knew what her boss would say. If it's leaving you alone, leave _it_ alone. And most importantly, never ever provoke Daniel Fenton's merman.

That ticked her off, right from the start.

What made him so special? She'd wanted to ask. But Valerie could tell by the look in Mr. Master's eyes, that this one was simply not like the others. Maybe it had something to do with his size, or his supposed intelligence, she didn't know. Her boss made it clear from day one merfolk were animals, and somewhat tests subjects. None of them understood English, and lived a bit uneducated about anything besides from singing or hunting fish.

Valerie glared out over the ocean; staring out at the soft purples and oranges the setting sun was turning the sky. Great, another day and she wasn't any closer to finding the supposed killer. It could just be natural death. They weren't smart, only the males were strong. Fenton's merman certainly was strong.

She saw how the merman acted. So he'd gotten bigger over the years, who cared? He acted more like a _puppy_ from what she'd seen. He was usually attached at Fenton's hip anyway. Valerie wondered what Fenton did to control the monster so well. There had to be some secret, dumb monsters didn't just listen to you like that without some sort of corrective training, right?

On her second lap by the rocks and caves, she still wasn't any closer to finding out who was killing merpeople and dumping their bodies. The sun was going to set, and she would have to head back to Amity.

Just as she thought the day was going to end on a sour note, something happened that cemented her gloomy thoughts in stone. Her scanner went off; alerting her to something moving up behind her, and it was coming up fast. Faster than anything she'd encountered before, this close to her Ski. What was-?

She got her answer when black and silver flashed in her peripheral. The tail crested the wave and came down, vanishing among the surface. Valerie swallowed, chewing her lip as she purposefully swam closer to the now smooth, sandy beach line. Fenton's Jet Ski was nowhere in sight. Was the stupid thing mistaking her Ski for his master's or something?

The blinking dot on the screen followed and sharply cut behind her. Valerie whipped her head to her right, just in time to see Fenton's merman come to a stop up on shore, water lapping its long black tail. They stared at one another a moment, Phantom frowning gently, and Valerie's face was hidden behind her outfit. But her expression wasn't happy either.

"How did you find me?" She demanded, annoyance lacing her tone. She wasn't in the mood. She wasn't engaging, see, Mr. Masters?

"It was hard to find you out on top of the water in direct sun?" Phantom snorted, dragging himself in a lose circle, watching her suspiciously.

"You were making enough noise to wake up a ghost ship anyway." He could just tell by her body language, he didn't need to see her face, to know the way she reeled back was indignation. She was not in the mood for dealing with this thing, even if it could talk. (Which was a surprise.)

Valerie leaned back onto the black and red ski, glaring through her tinted goggles at the interfering monster. Just because she was looking out for them didn't mean she liked doing it. But Masters paid well, and the gear was pretty cool. Heck, this merman wasn't so scary. And it wasn't even in the water, either. So she totally had the upper hand.

The merman was a total pushover whenever Fenton interacted with it. She saw no reason why it shouldn't listen to her too, since she had spent almost as much time on the ocean as Fenton did. Fenton probably used a certain tone that made the merman obey. Sure, she'd started later, but Mr. Masters himself said she was skilled for her age at handling the merfolk, so Valerie let the Ski coast closer to the merman lying in the shallows and jabbed her finger into her chest.

"_I'm_ the one who's supposed to find out who's killing those merpeople. This is my job, got it? I don't need you or that Fenton jerk getting in my way."

The merman looked briefly surprised by this information.

"_That's_ why you're here?"

She nodded. Then considered her options briefly.

"In fact, maybe you can be some use after all, fish boy. Take me to where I can find someone who can give me answers. Now!" She demanded.

Big mistake. At the commanding tone, Phantom flattened his frills and curled his lip gently.

"I obey only one human, and that is not _you_, you stupid little guppy." Phantom uttered his words, growls echoing his tone.

"Little-!?" Well, that did it. She shoved her ski around, leaning over to glare at him.

"I'll show you _little_—" She muttered reaching for something on her belt. Phantom saw it coming and swung his tail around. The fins smacked the little metal ball and sent it flying harmlessly away before it could explode its blinding smoke.

If she wasn't so focused on hating him, she might have been impressed with how fast he learned. Except, she didn't. And all she was focused on right now was making this rude monster feel some sort of pain or regret with talking back to her like that.

But he was still on land. Behind her protective mask, she sneered.

"Looks like your human shield isn't here to protect you, fish boy."

"Incorrect." Phantom seethed out between his sharp gritted fangs. His claws flexed into the sand.

"My human is not here to protect _you_."

The merman shot himself forward, propelled by his long tail. Valerie hadn't been expecting the lunge to be honest, at least not one that was coming directly _at_ her. So he collided with her jet ski and her leg, slamming it hard and sending it bobbing out into the water. He ducked under the waves, vanishing briefly before appearing again, grinning wickedly up at her.

"Hey-!" Having no choice, she hit the gas and tried to move out of the way. The merman followed, getting another smack in with its tail as it passed. The fluke swung and smacked, hard. This time she did more than just sway, she almost fell off. Valerie cursed under breath and moved the ski faster, simply trying to put some distance between them. looking to the side she last the merman, it seemed to have worked. Nothing but the crest of her waves.

And when she looked to her left, all she saw was teeth, claws, scales and slitted, furious eyes. The monster full body tackled her, wrapping an arm round her waist and using his momentum to push her right into the ocean with a splash. They tumbled down; water surged around her, bubbles flying every which way. Her hand reached for something at her belt but her wrist was grabbed with lightning speed. The hold was tight but only aching, nothing broke under his grip. But his talons dug into her skin gently, warning.

She had her mask on at least. So she looked up through her goggles, staring up at the merman bearing down on her, silver hair fluttering and eyes glowing under the water.

He sneered when he saw her expression, and tugged her, hard.

Not down, surprisingly. But up. She was shoved upwards, gulped in air. Before she could react about anything other than breathing, the merman was tugging her down again, tail waving through the water as they swam.

What was he—?

She understood then, when she saw the jutting, rocky underwater landscape. It was littered with overhangs and caves, sharp rocky points and impossible looking cliff edges. And he was swimming _right_ toward them, and picking up speed with every beat of his tail and those huge fins. Suddenly, he held, right there on the current. Huge hip fins caught the current and held them there for a heartbeat.

Then her stomach somersaulted, following their pattern as he purposefully tumbled down into the depths, swinging them around a rock. She screamed, a silent torrent of bubbles and scrabbled for anything on her belt that could help her. Claws raked through the fabric, yanking it off and away from her as he spun them around dizzily. They missed the rock wall, narrowly, but she felt it scrape her a little bit. Both of them corkscrewed wildly as she tried pounding on him to release her, and when she managed to grab hold of a head fan and yank it, he screeched (the noise was unholy) and swam upward quickly, flinging them above the water and into the air.

Valerie still isn't sure quite what happened that moment. It felt like they were flying. But then the sensation was replaced by falling, dropping, and they crashed back under the water with an almighty splash. He tossed her away and shook his head as if to clear some confusion, and swung for her once more. Out in the deep water, she had really nowhere to go but where he wanted. He caught hold of her waist once more and down they plunged into the dark blue depths. A few summersaults and he shoved her away, hard, roaring at her. The noise was deafening and she just wanted air at this point. She'd lost her grip on the obviously sensitive ear flap, and found herself on something semi-solid. Thick, but giving. Cold and wet. Sand?

There was growling all around her, deep and threatening. It rose to a cackle and she was pushed again, more up onto shore. Valerie rolled onto her knees, coughing up any sea water she'd managed to inhale by accident. Spots danced in her vision and she turned to look over her shoulder, panting harshly. She hugged one arm around her aching waist, wondering internally if any ribs were broken. Shit. It was like he knew exactly where to hit a human to stop them from fighting back. She could have been killed.

That stupid monster was there, half on the shore. He was braced up on his arms, tail slapping the water behind him. He was glaring at her quietly, and when he saw her turn to look at him he flared his many fins and shrieked, tossing his head.

"Get out of here. And don't come back, guppy." He spat the last word out like it would burn his tongue.

"Next time, I won't be so forgiving. I _won't_ let you see the light of day again."

On the next outgoing wave, he let himself be pulled. With a slip of sea green and glimmering silver, the merman vanished from sight.

**oOo**

Danny walked out on the beach just as the sun slipped under the horizon. Over head the dark blue sky was melting to an inky blackness, stars twinkling here and there gently. So he walked while craning his head up, trying to spot some constellations he knew. His feet knew every grain of sand, ever rock and shell of the beach so he wasn't surprised when he found himself at the cove in only a few moments.

"You're going to trip and break your neck like that." A familiar voice drawled from somewhere to his left.

Danny looked down and over at Phantom. The merman was lounging on a rock in the shallows and Danny's face split into a playful grin the second he saw the unamused merman.

"You'd catch me." Strange, Phantom sounded tried. Ah, he was just hearing things.

"From all the way over here?" Phantom threw back wryly.

"Ahuh. Cause you love me so much." Danny's grin only widened at Phantom's eyeroll. As Danny walked over, Phantom's fluke swung out of the water it was dangling in and sent a spray of salt water at the human gently.

"You're late." He scolded.

"I had to make it up to Sam and Tuck, remember?" Danny reminded, wading out into the now dark water carefully. Phantom's gaze suddenly became watchful. He only relaxed when Danny made it safely out to the rock he was perched on, the water maybe up to Danny's knees or so.

"What did you decide on then?" Phantom asked, rolling on his back to stare up at the night sky. The rock was so wide and flat, Danny had no trouble matching his pose and lying next to him. Although Danny drew one leg up and dangled his other foot in the cool water.

"Oh, I promised I'd go with her to some circus that's gonna be in town." The human explained with a wave of his hand.

"Circus?" Phantom's tail was brushing against Danny's foot under the water. The gesture was familiar and tickled a little bit. Danny tried to stroke the tail fin back with his foot but he wasn't as graceful, and of course nowhere near as flexible when it came to that part of his body. Still, he knew Phantom got the message.

"Yeah. It's called Circus Aquatica, or something. She said it sounded right up my alley. A bunch of sea themed performances and stuff." Danny shrugged, and stared up at the stars.

"I figured, why not, yanno? Their supposed to arrive on a boat tomorrow."

"Sounds like one of our festivals." Phantom finally commented after too long a pause.

"…you okay buddy?" Phantom didn't seem….all with him tonight. Maybe he _was_ tired.

Phantom sighed. "I'm fine, Minnow."

"Oh, yeah. No, no that was _totally_ convincing. And the Emmy for best acting goes toooo….somebody else!"

As he was saying this, Danny rolled over, bracing his head on his hand. He reached his right hand up and rubbed his thumb against the nearest head fan. Phantom winced at the touch, causing Danny to pull back in surprise. The merman's eyes had slitted gently, but they flickered briefly to Danny's and flooded with guilt and a trace of apprehension.

"Phantom? Are you okay? What's…did I hurt you?" Hardly likely. Kittens couldn't hurt saber tooth tigers.

"It's ah, nothing, Minnow. I bumped it on some rocks is all. I was hunting and got careless."

"_You_?"

"It's a bit tender, that's all." Danny opened his mouth but Phantom swiftly changed the subject.

"I believe it's your turn for a story."

Danny shot him a look, but after a moment lied down on his back, dropping his foot back into the water and sighed. Every night since the start of the summer, he and Phantom had started this little tradition. First, it had just been little comparisons to each other's myths and legends. As the language barrier vanished, Danny learned that much more about Phantom's concept of legends and stories. Phantom certainly had some interesting ones. Even a few very similar to the own stories he heard as a kid. They each told each other a story knew, every night they could, lying side by side along with the sea and stars all around them. After so many months, they were far passed the stories Danny liked, and now he was discovering new ones in an attempt to keep up with the merman, who never seemed lacking for a tale to tell.

At this time of night, the black ocean and sky melted together, sealing the two in a private world of stars and stories. It was clandestine, comfortable, and safe.

"Okay, okay. Let's see…which one did you tell last night?" His face scrunched as he tried to recall.

"I told the story of The Lost Prince, who was constantly asked to be married by a mermaid, but in the end a human girl stole him away, leaving the poor mermaid heartbroken."

"But the two humans lives happily ever after." Danny recalled.

Phantom crackled in the back of his throat and snorted. Danny, still lying beside him, chuckled. Of course the point of that story was no good came from trying to love a human. A moral Danny and Phantom laughed about when Phantom had finished telling it. Danny thought a moment, until his eyes fell on the Leo constellation. He smiled.

"Okay, I've got one. Ready pal?"

Phantom gave a happy croon in affirmative, and fell silent. Danny knew he was listening closely.

"Okay, this ones a fable. It's called 'The Lion and the Mouse."

"Large…maned cats and small gray rodents?" Phantom cut in to clarify.

"Yeah, Phantom." Danny chuckled, used to having to stop and explain what the characters looked like to his sea-ridden best friend. Arms behind his head so he wouldn't fiddle with Phantom's sore ear frill, Danny started the story.

"So anyway, there lived this old Lion. He was the king of the Jungle, okay? Like Pariah is. Totally in charge, answered to no one. Well one day, he woke up to find a little mouse crawling over his face. The Lion woke up, and got angry. When he lifted his paw to kill him, the Mouse suddenly cries "If you would only spare my life, I would be sure to repay your kindness!" Or, something like that."

"What could that small creature do for him?" Phantom snorts. Beside him, Danny smiled patiently, tracing Orion's belt with his eyes. He went on,

"That's pretty much what the Lion said. In fact, it made the Lion laugh, and he let the Mouse go. Sometime later, the Lion got caught by some hunters, and was bound by thick ropes. He couldn't escape."

"Hm."

"Well, the Mouse recognizes his roar, right? And comes running. Mice are great chewers, actually, and this little guy got through those ropes in no time flat, freeing the Lion! When he did this, he turned to the Lion and said "You thought it was funny that I could ever help you, because I'm so small and you're so big. But now you've learned, that no act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted."

There was silence then, "The Lion and the Mouse?"

"Yep."

"…I like that." Phantom commented softly after a moment.

"That was a good story, Minnow."

Danny smiled up into the darkness. When Phantom's tail curled round his whole foot and ankle, Danny laughed gently and scooted closer to the merman's side. He rolled a bit onto the large spread hip fin and tucked against Phantom's side, slinging an arm over the tan stomach.

Phantom purred at the sudden closeness of their bodies and lifted his fin a bit, tucking Danny in against his side a little more. Danny's fingers found the merman's opposite hip, where his scales melted to skin and itched one spot gently. He didn't have to look up to know Phantom's eyes were lidding in pleasure, because the purring got louder all of a sudden.

They stayed like that well into the night, simply content with lying in each others presence.

* * *

**Fun fact: 'The Lost Prince' is an actual story and can be found in **_**The Book of Mermaids. **_**However, Phantom told it from a merperson's point of view. In the real version, the mermaid is the antagonist, and the prince constantly refuses her advances. (Seriously, whenever he says no, she puts him to sleep and only wakes him up when she wants to.) In the end, he's saved by a poor farm girl who only wants his love. **


	3. Chapter 3

**My senior year has started up. This took me way too long to write! That, and it's poorly edited. But the show must go on. Have fun reading!**

* * *

_**Chapter 3**_

* * *

The circus had come to town.

It had come over night, drifting in like fog and settling in Amity harbor. The massive steam liner was painted extravagant in its blues and greens and, for some reason, a whole lot of sheer black. The whole thing gave Danny a strange feeling of anxiety. Anxiety that for some reason, he couldn't quite place.

"Circus Aquatica? _Really_, Sam?" Tucker uttered as they all stood before the massive cruise liner. A converted one, anyway. The ship had been in since early that morning, and though Danny would have preferred doing other things (like finding out who that mystery Skier was, or who was killing merfolk), he really _did_ want to spend some time with his friends. It wouldn't be long before both of them left Amity Island and went off to college, to bigger and better things. He could put that stuff on hold for a bit, maybe, right?

But standing on the dock before the dark painted, slightly eerie looking cruise liner, both Danny and Tucker were starting to have second thoughts.

"I know I said I'd make it up to you, but I don't know if I meant…something like this." Danny commented warily from her other side, and both boys received light shoulder punches. Tucker yelped and rubbed his shoulder, Danny didn't so much as flinch. Phantom could punch dents into steel, so Danny hardly noticed Sam's little jabs anymore.

"Oh come on, guys! Just give it a chance. I'm buying the tickets, aren't I?"

Danny and Tucker shared a sly look.

"_And_ the snacks?" Danny started, with the tone of someone who'd said this many times before. Sam's face signaled she'd instantly caught on to their puppy act, but let them go on.

"Two popcorns. 2 corn dogs, 2 sodas. No judgement." Tucker finished. Both boys still wore matching shit eating grins, trying to look as cute as humanly possible.

"You know, we should be making Danny paying for the snacks." Sam snorted, but she was already stomping up the ramp with a roll of her eyes. Danny and Tucker high fived behind her back and trotted up after.

"I would, but you know…" Danny trailed off lamely. He mimed the usual, pulling his empty pockets out of his jeans. It felt weird to be wearing the loose clothing, but his wet suit was on underneath, so Danny felt a bit more at ease. It wasn't like he expected to need it, but it was a comfort to have one at this point.

"Yeah, yeah. Mister 'I spend so much time playing with my pet merman I don't have time for a real job." Sam lowered her fingers from an air quote to hand over the tickets to a man at the podium before the ship's entrance. The deck was one flight above them, with another one below.

"Wow. Get a little lower under the belt with that one, Sam. Did I ask for the nutshelling?" Danny tried, twisting his lips as they walked into the ship and down a hall. More blue. And black.

"You know, she's got a point Danny. It's been three weeks since senior year ended, and you still haven't applied to any jobs or even a college."

"Hey, I'm just…waiting for the right one." Danny tried speaking his words delicately, trying to play it off. His eyes said otherwise, the way they darted everywhere but to his friend's faces.

"Sorry man, but I wouldn't hold your breath for a campus that takes merman. I mean, owning a fish is one thing. What _you_ two do, well…"

"That's not what I—!"

Danny's flustered yelp was cut off, mostly by loud, bubbly music and the booming voice of a man that was clearly in charge.

"_Welcome_! Welcome on and all to Circus Aquatica! Where the mysterious, deadly ocean dwellers of the deep rise…to entertain you!"

Something about the man up on the stage sent shivers crawling up Danny's spine. It was so much so that he stopped dead in his tracks, staring with equal parts revulsion and fascination at the figure with the sweeping coat and black top hat. Danny couldn't decide what bothered him more, the weird staff in his hand that he never seemed to use as a walking stick, or the roaming, rather feverish eyes staring out of a gaunt face to the crowd gathering before him. He wondered, fleetingly, what Phantom would think of this guy.

"Uh, dude." Tucker said to his left, also staring at the man. "Eyeliner much?"

"Guess he's the Ring Master, or something." Sam shrugged. "He's really selling it. Look at all those sea shells, painted black."

The three came to a stop at the back of the crowd gathered before the stage. There were clearly other theaters, but this seemed to a small all purpose one, meant to inform audiences before they went on their way to explore or go sit for a show.

Danny's eyes flicked to a wall directory, and he scanned it. Anything to avoid this man's eyes. Those had to be colored contacts. His brow furrowed at one particular arrow.

Open Exhibits? The Amazing SharkMonster? What on earth?

He was slinking for the doorway before he realized his legs were moving. A quick glance at Sam and Tuck showed him his friends were occupied with the weird Ring Leader, whose name was apparently Freakshow. Danny filed the information away for later, and hesitated only briefly. Next thing he knew he was sneaking behind the rope line, alone.

He wasn't sure why.

Taking the dark, slightly sloping hall with the tacky wallpaper and carpet to match lead Danny to an even darker light room. The only illumination was the thick lights under and over two rows of tanks, one taking up each side of the room. It was like a mini-aquarium alright, just…_different_.

Oh, sure. There was the usual. The first few tanks showed sharks, fish, coral and even an octopus. Their water swayed gently with the ship's movement in the ocean. Danny frowned softly, and rubbed his shoulder. Sure was cold, the deeper he walked down the hallway. Something caught his eye. It was red, or the little streak he saw of something was, anyway. Danny whipped his head around, eyes widening at the sight towering over him.

Danny forgot to breathe.

A merman, long and broad shouldered, bore over him in its tank. Its belly nearly touching the glass it was so close. Rusty shackles dragged its wrists and tail down, and its livid red eyes seemed to pierce into the blue eyed boy's soul. A restless, thick fluked tail swung behind its body. He froze for an instant, then instincts kicked in. Freeze—and you looked more like a target, less like a predator. Phantom's lessons came back hard, and Danny was more grateful than ever for them now. This merman was big. Maybe even longer than _Phantom_.

Breathing just a bit harder than normal—from excitement or adrenaline, Danny didn't know—he walked right up to the glass and gasped as he got a closer look. Even in such a state, the merman was striking and Danny's jaw dropped in awe. The long tail was four finned, just like Phantom. That would put them somewhere around the same age. Adulthood, at least. Looking at the white in the sharkman's spiked, horn shaped hair, this guy was clearly more mature in number of years than his Phantom. The merman's black claws were viciously hooked and in surprisingly good shape for being in captivity.

"I don't…I don't understand," Danny breathed, staring up in awe. He spared vague glances at the tank, the iron surrounding the majestic sea legend. It looked less like a home, more like a display case. A cage.

Danny slowly turned to stare up into the merman's furious, enraged blood red eyes. Staring into them, seeing a familiar dangerous, deadly intelligence boiling just below surface. He was strongly reminded of Phantom.

Danny's gut twisted, and his heart clenched.

"Why are you…?" He was about to say 'in here,' but as he stretched his hand out, finger pads almost alighting on the glass, the sharkman screeched and snapped his jaws, as if to bite Danny. If the thick glass wasn't there, he would have clearly gone on the offensive.

Danny, however, didn't move. He only stopped speaking.

His eyes narrowed, not in anger, and he tilted his head, gently lifting his other hand.

"It's okay, it's okay," He found himself whispering, hoping to soothe. He didn't even know if the merman could hear him, but it seemed to be working.

The imposing creature wasn't growling anymore, at least.

"Yeah, see? You're alright. I'm not gonna hurt ya." Danny soothed softly, still showing his palm, that he wasn't armed, and meant no harm.

The merman curled his lip, showing a plethora of razor sharp shark teeth. Danny murmured something calming and took a little step closer. Sure, there was glass between them, but still.

First impressions were everything to merfolk.

Thinking quickly, Danny dug into his many pockets. God bless his mother's inventions, because a moment later he freed a small, thickly sealed bag, anchovies folded inside. He pulled three out, wrinkling his nose at the smell. But he could see an opening high above at the top of the tank, and he took a chance.

The dead fish plopped into the water a moment later, and sank unceremoniously.

"Yes!" Danny couldn't help but cheer, especially when the sharkman turned up and instinctively swiped. He caught one, brought it down to his blue lips and Danny saw his nostrils flare.

Suddenly the merman recoiled, throwing the morsels away and reeling back as if deeply insulted.

"_Woah_—no, it's okay!" Danny tried, wincing at the merman's loud noises of aggravation.

But the merman seethed and twisted. With a muted rattle of chains, it was gone from sight. The four finned fluke, chipped and scarred, slipped out of his sight.

Danny, confused and worried, automatically tried to walk around the tank to follow it, see where it went. Suddenly a voice boomed,

"Hey! What do you think you're doing back here, kid? The exhibits closed right now. Everyone's at the show." His shoulder roughly grabbed and Danny was yanked back.

"Ah—erh, sorry! I was just, uh, looking for the bathroom?" The guard was as big as his Dad. Danny gave a sheepish smile and excused himself, trying not to break out into a run for the exit.

Everyone was at the show.

But Danny, standing awkwardly by himself in the lobby, shifted from foot to foot a moment. Finally, he turned and headed for the ramp, walking out into the sunlight.

He bailed on his friend's again, but this time at least, Danny felt he had a good excuse.

**oOo**

Danny was lost in thought, and staring out over the ocean.

Dying sunlight cast the sky in rich purples and a thick tangerine, with wispy clouds drifting lazily above. The ocean was calm and glistening where the sun was lowering over it, slowly descending toward the horizon. On a clear day, you could see next Thursday when. Right now, Danny wasn't seeing much. The sunset haze was going to fade to deep blue and finally velvet black before too long, but Danny didn't feel inclined to move. He wasn't particularly tired and he wasn't restless enough to go try some stunts or swimming, so he stayed put.

Danny rested back against Phantom's thick tail, just where it connected to his human torso. The end of that black tail was slightly curled in his direction, and Danny's pale fingers fiddled idly with one of the merman's four flukes. The pale green, see-through fin was limp in his hold and Phantom himself had his head resting on his crossed arms, eyes closed and breathing steadily. His head fins were pressed closed and lying limp down on either side of his head, shaggy silver hair drifting from the wind coming off the ocean. Phantom's drying gills caused him to breathe with an after sound of whooshing air, in even, long whirrs of noise. Every so often, the merman's nose twitched, and he hummed or purred a little.

The pair were resting on the small sandy beach in the cove. They'd long ago cleared a section from the giant rocks, which were now purposefully placed in a loose circle at some attempt for privacy. Not that Danny needed worrying; Phantom's hearing would pick up anything long before they got within sight of them, be it land or sea. It wasn't like there was much to fear these days, anyway. With someone like Phantom at your back, most things gave Danny a wide berth, even if they didn't know the intimidating merman personally.

Distractedly, Danny's thumb and forefinger rubbed the flat, smooth shimmering fin and he gave a faint smile when Phantom murred in contentment, still asleep. But the smile on Danny's face was strained and soon slipped.

God, what was he going to do? What was he going to tell Phantom, for that matter? The massive shark-man in that tank looked hardly _with_ reality, let alone dangerous or deadly. Maybe it was some sort of drug they were giving him to keep him out of it. Maybe he was in such poor condition that was his normal state. Danny could have counted his ribs too. Merman's needed a lot of food to keep up their strength, since swimming was a constant effort. Their generally grazed all day, and even into the night.

The human bit his lip in frustration, and glanced down. He watched the light play through Phantom's shimmering tail and looked at the other three fins. They were in such good condition compared to the sharkman's. Danny wondered if he had a name.

A family.

Anything.

A wave broke before them, the noise dragging Danny back into the present. That, and his cell phone was suddenly vibrating in one of his many waterproof pockets. He dug it out, and flipped it open.

_Tucker: Hey man, where did you go? You totally disappeared and we couldn't find you after the show. Something come up?_

Danny winced. He sent back some nondescript reply and a couple dozen sincere apologies, as well as sending them to Sam. The only reason he didn't get in trouble, was because he added a desperate plea for them to meet tomorrow so they could discuss something he'd seen at the Circus. It was really important, and that he was scared and worried. .

The replies took a bit, especially Sam's, but they were both an affirmative.

That issue settled for the time being, Danny stashed his phone away and wiggled his spine down a little more into Phantom's girth. Wind blew off the ocean, and Danny shuddered, rubbing his arms. The merman made a sleepy noise and rolled his stomach up to accommodate him, tucking his tail affectionately round Danny. The black haired boy smiled softly, thankful for Phantom's protective streak, even in a dead sleep. When he leaned down more, Phantom's large hip fin spread over his side and attempted to block in some of the warmth, touching him gently. Danny felt a sudden rush of affection for his other hald, and relaxed some more.

He remembered the chained merman and couldn't suppress a little shudder.

"If you were…like that, god. I don't know what I'd do Phantom." The human admitted softly, under his breath so as not to wake the merman.

Danny remembered the blue skinned sharkman's eyes very vividly. As angry as they had been, they were mostly backed by heavy fear and wariness. Nothing should ever look that scared.

His new position had him with one arm slung back over Phantom's scale speckled shoulders. Danny's fingers found the merman's right ear fin and he was soon running it between his fingers. That woke Phantom up, and as the merman rose back to awareness he purred a little at the gesture. When Danny continued staring blankly off over the ocean Phantom tilted his head and playfully nipped one of his human's fingers, getting his attention.

"Hm? Oh, sorry Phantom. I didn't mean to wake you." Danny was still a bit distracted, and Phantom immediately noticed.

Still, the merman gave an indiscriminate comment and stretched like a lazy tom cat before settling back down and going,

"Minnow? Are you okay?" When Danny turned to look at him, Phantom supplied "You look lost." Sharp toxic green eyes searched his intently.

"Phantom…"

He hadn't told the merman what happened yet. Phantom wasn't interested one iota in the large cruise liner and had all but avoided the bay since its arrival earlier this morning. Now, Danny was thinking maybe on some level Phantom _knew_ something. The Ghost had more than six senses. Surely he was sharing the same vibes Danny had only this morning. Danny had kept quiet for reasons not even he was sure of.

He wasn't sure what he was even afraid of. Phantom would want to help the other merman, right? Even if he looked nothing like the merfolk Danny had seen before. Up until now, Phantom had been the oddest merman yet. The others were born in this reef; Phantom was an outcast, a stranger until they'd killed the kraken. Even then, the merman had clearly exhibited little interest in other mers, and instead choose all his possible time with Danny, or waiting for Danny. Phantom had expressed on more than one occasion, he didn't even really like Clockwork that much. And Clockwork had helped them defeat the kraken.

No, Phantom wasn't the most social creature. Except with Danny.

His hesitancy in outright telling the merman what had happened cost him. A second later, Phantom's frills were flicking this way and that, picking up some noise. The merman twisted in a certain direction, one of the cove paths that lead to Amity's main beach.

"Phantom? What is it?" If it were Sam, Tucker, Jazz or his parents, Phantom wouldn't have suddenly gotten so interested. Or starting up the snarling in the back of his throat, and crouching his belly to the ground.

Danny made a move to get up, but the wind was knocked out of him when a tail swung up and shoved him down, hard. He ended up crammed into the space between Phantom's belly and the sand, and groaned. Oh boy. Danny spit out some sand grains and moaned.

"Really? What, is someone coming to stab me?" The black haired boy grumbled dryly, trying in vain to wiggle himself free from under the merman's much large girth.

"That's it! I'm putting your fat scaly butt on a diet." Phantom ignored him.

It was the stupid tail and hip that was Phantom's heaviest parts. His large hip fins spread protectively over to shield Danny from view and the merman growled louder in warning as someone came round the bend. Correction, someone's.

Knowing he looked absolutely ridiculous stuck under Phantom's bulk, Danny dropped his head to the sand and looked upside down at Vlad and the same jet ski rider they'd seen in the cave. Danny gasped, eyes widening. Phantom tensed, swallowing.

"Wha, Vlad?!" Danny cried. "It's you!" He should have known Vlad had some sort of hand in this.

"Yes, Daniel. Now if you don't mind…moving your pet, I'd like to have a word with you."

Phantom hissed angrily at the two intruders, flaring his colored scales. His many fangs were bared, and his eyes slitted and looking downright murderous. He was rewarded; the masked figure took a small step back that Danny missed. Vlad simply ignored Phantom, knowing he wouldn't move off of Danny for anything less than the world ending. As long as they were out of the merman's reach, they were safe.

Danny on the other hand, was simply exasperated. And not afraid in the slightest. Phantom was still snarling and growling.

"Oh my god, use your words, pal." Came a deadpan command from under the suddenly nightmare-ish creature.

Vlad smirked when he saw Phantom grump and reluctantly lean to the right, raising a fin. Now freed, Danny quickly scrambled out and to his feet before Phantom could change his mind.

"Minnow!" Phantom snapped in a scolding tone at this human. Danny brushed off his pants and hopped over the tail that swung to collect him.

"What is this about, Vlad? Do Mom and Dad know about this guy?" Danny pointed, shushing his merman for the time being.

"'This guy,'" Vlad spoke, "Is here of purely my own volition. Your parents know nothing about Ms. Gray, and I had intended to keep it that way for a little longer. But…my hand has been forced."

"Yeah? And give me one reason why I shouldn't tell them."

"Because she is doing nothing wrong."

Danny blinked, and leaned back in surprise.

"She isn't. She merely works for me collecting data. Nothing harmful to the environment, nothing shady or with much monetary gain. She is an extra set of eyes around the Island and an asset to my studies. Studies that, incidentally, _are_ helping your parents with much of their own research." Vlad finished, even as he pulled something from inside his coat. He dropped the plastic wrap bag, stuffed with anchovies, before Phantom.

The merman grunted, leaning back. He pointedly turned his nose up at the fish.

"Phantom." Danny murmured, this time it was his turn to be correcting with his tone. He made a motion at his merman. Vlad was giving them a peace offering. He'd done it before. As far as Danny could tell, Vlad seemed to be telling the truth. And if it was poisoned, Phantom would easily sniff it out. Suddenly Danny's mind caught up with him.

"Wait—did you say she?"

At that, the person pulled off their helmet. The black hair that bounced free was from none other than Valerie Gray—a girl from his graduating class at Casper High. Woah. Danny let his apparent surprise show. Phantom was too busy pawing the dead anchovies, looking unsure still.

"What are you doing working for him?" Danny couldn't help but ask. Valerie's eyes narrowed, and with her helmet propped on her hip went,

"You know, my grandmother lived to be one hundred and one."

"What, working for Vlad?" Danny asked.

"Minding her own damn business." She snapped, quirking a single eyebrow.

Danny twisted his lips and turned his attention back to Vlad. Who was trying (and failing) to suppress a grin at Valerie's sass aimed at the youngest Fenton.

"So what does this have to do with us, Vlad?"

Danny, still noticing how tense Phantom was, took a knee and ran his fingernails along Phantom's back, right where his scales started. It was a place the merman couldn't reach that well, and itched often. The result was a clearly conflicted Phantom who wanted to keep snarling and acting like the fierce warrior he was. But finally the merman stopped resisting the affection and begrudgingly relaxed, humming a little.

"Valerie told me about the incident in the southern caves yesterday." Danny looked up from the puddle of merman he'd just created. If he noticed the look on Valerie's face as she watched Phantom slump and close his eyes in pleasure, he didn't say anything.

"And? She already told us she didn't do it."

"She didn't. Highly doubtful you two did it. Or anyone else I can think of. Which means it's a third party we don't know about. And I do **not** like being kept in the dark about things that are so financially important to me, little badger." Danny shot him a look, understanding dawning on his features.

"Between the three of you, I think you can get the results we need, hmm?"

Danny bit his lip, between a rock and a hard place.

On one hand, he _knew_ Vlad knew that Danny and Phantom had every intention of going out themselves to find out what was hurting merfolk. Who, or what. And the more bodies searching, the more people that knew what they were doing, the better. On the other, he didn't really want to work with Valerie. It was clear she didn't like him, much less Phantom.

Danny understood some of her reserves, but that didn't mean he would tolerate them. Especially if she tried to take her anger out on his other half. That would certainly not fly.

"And if we don't?"

"This is by no means _blackmail_ my dear boy. If you don't want to work with the talented Ms. Gray, then don't. But I don't think even you can keep up with a social life, hunt a possible killer, and get started on a career. Unless…you think you can. But since you've already dropped plans with your friends for what, the second time in two days? I'd say you're spreading yourself much too thin, Daniel."

The rock and the hard place just became another rock, only this one was a boulder. Either way, Danny was screwed. And slightly cornered. He shared a look with Phantom, silently asking with his blue eyes. The merman's resolute ones met his, understanding and trust flashing through them, and god, it was all for him. Danny gave a slight incline of his chin.

"…Alright, fine. We'll let her work with us. But only if we can tell my parents everything we discover, too." Danny said, his eyes dark. "We don't, we don't keep secrets in the family anymore, got it?"

Vlad merely smiled.

It only made Danny a little uneasy.

"Then it's settled. Tomorrow, meet Daniel and his…Phantom, by the docks my dear, if you please."

"Yeah, okay."

Danny didn't know what was pushing Valerie to obey orders for a job she clearly wasn't happy about taking. As Vlad took his leave the way he'd came, Danny felt something butting his hanging hand. He looked down to see Phantom cramming his head into his palm and chirruping happily. The merman caught him looking and smiled toothily, bearing his fangs and slapping his tail in the surf.

Danny offered him a soft smile, knowing what Phantom was trying to do. Already it was working. Danny did feel better.

So he took a knee and faced the merman, taking the side of his head in both palms and ruffling that long stringy hair playfully, flicking the merman's head fins. They rose to face him as Phantom gave him his attention, gaze fond and loving. Danny couldn't help it, he leaned in and rubbed their noses together, laughing as he felt thin strands of hair and Phantom's long curled frills brushing his skin lightly. The merman bobbed his head and purring deep in his throat.

"Jesus, get a room." Valerie's voice sounded from behind Danny.

The shift in Phantom's demeanor was instantaneous. His eyes slitted dangerously as he turned to scowl over Danny's shoulder.

"Ah…" Danny winced, hands moving from touching to holding the merman by his shoulders. It would be a poor attempt at holding Phantom still if he didn't have his voice on his side. At his nervous noise, Phantom glanced at him, then back at the girl poking buttons on her wrist plate in her suit.

Phantom flattened his head fans and growled, at her. Challenging. Oh boy.

"No. Nooo, no picking fights, Phantom."

Phantom chattered in frustration.

"Look, Phantom, maybe we should be a _bit_ nicer to her, huh?" She probably felt like a third wheel. Phantom was one move away from laying on top of him again in an attempt to keep anyone else away, and Danny wasn't sure that would make Valerie any less relaxed with the situation.

The merman twisted his head to look at him, twisting his lips up comically, eyes unamused. Danny gave him a soft, reprimanding glare right back. Phantom, clearly frustrated, gnashed his teeth and shook his head, but flopped harmlessly back in the sand. His fins folded up against his body, and stopped glowing.

"Thank you." Danny smiled, turning back to look up at Valerie.

"Hey, listen, I'm uh, sorry about earlier." Danny tried, watching the Black Jet Ski from earlier dart round the rock wall and coast into the cove. It reminded him a lot of his own, and now the fact Valerie had one too made a lot of sense. Vlad must have used the blue prints from Danny's modified Jet Ski.

He turned back to her, and saw the stunned surprise on her face, brief. This clearly hadn't been what she was expecting, because she went quiet and raised an eyebrow at him. Danny held his hands out, palms up in surrender and clambered to his feet.

"I just, it's just that I think you have this _really_ wrong impression about Phantom and the others." He noticed then, she was switching between looking at him and glaring at Phantom. Who looked for all intense purposes, that he was dead asleep. One look at the stiff, upright head fins told Danny better. But apparently Valerie didn't catch that, or she didn't know how to read head fins yet.

"I know exactly _what_ they are, Fenton. I don't plan on changing my mind just because I have to work with you two losers." She pointed, nearly jabbing her finger in his chest.

Phantom, head back on his folded arms snorted derisively at her comment. This time Danny was the frustrated one.

"If you'd just let me show you—"

"Save it for your friends, Fishboy. Just consider me a coworker. A very, very brief one. I'm doing this for the money, not for anything else. And only cause Mister Masters asked me too."

Suddenly Danny realized why Vlad was making her team up with them. A mindset like that was bad for both them and Phantom's kind. Vlad himself had had the exact same opinion only three years ago. Danny wondered if Vlad really _was_ looking out for merfolk. It couldn't just be for research, could it?

Or he just wanted to take every opportunity possible to make Danny and Phantom miserable.

"You really don't care that the merpeople are being killed? Possibly hunted?" Danny tried, fighting to keep the incredulousness from his voice. He had a rising sense this was going to be hopeless. If she didn't trust them, even him…

"They're just fish things. Get off your soapbox, Fenton." The girl grumbled as she turned to go and mount her Jet Ski. Thinking Phantom to be asleep and unaware, she gave Danny the lightest of shoves, purposefully walking by him so he'd be in her way. Their shoulders knocked.

Danny took a step for balance, but didn't say anything. He didn't have to.

As she passed the merman, Phantom's tail moved lightning quick. The result was a splash of water as he flung his flukes into the shallow surf, spraying Valerie in cold ocean water. She spluttered, turning on them both, looking more than a little pissed, and now dripping wet.

"First lesson," Danny said, pointing at the 'sleeping' merman. "Always watch the head fins."

One was flicked right in her direction, and Phantom peeked open an eye, looking smugly up at her. Daring her to do anything.

She flung her hands up, told them what dorks they were, and promptly stormed off.

When she was gone from sight, the black haired boy let himself deflate, and run a hand through his hair tiredly. The sun was setting soon, and he's need to get back. But right now? It could wait.

"Well, isn't _this_ gonna be fun, huh pal?" Danny said in a mock cheerful voice. He stepped back into the half circle of Phantom's long body, and was settled a moment later.

The merman chattered back in agreement.


	4. Chapter 4

**Senior year is just as fast and hard as I imagined it to be. Despite hitch ups and hook ups, here's the next chapter anyway.  
**

_**Chapter 4**_

* * *

"Part shark, you said? Hand me that, that nail there."

"Yeah." Danny did as asked, and went back to watching Clockwork work. "He was huge too. Longer than Phantom, anyway. But thinner. I could see his ribs, Clock. I wish I could get him out of there, and into the sea where he belongs."

"Hmm."

"Are you listening?"

"Of course. Philips head."

Danny rolled his eyes in exasperation but handed the tool over anyway.

"What did that merman of yours think of what you saw?" Clockwork suddenly went on, not looking up from his work.

"He, uh, well you know Phantom…"

Clockwork nodded, clearly trying to hide a smile.

"Didn't much care, did he?" He asked, sparing a playful glance in the human's direction.

"I don't think Phantom cares about anything." Danny kicked a bit of metal with his toe as he sat on an old stool beside Clockwork's half sunken work table. Water lapped at the merman's crimson hip fins but the angle the desk was at meant Danny was perched on a stool that was on sand. The broken desk was propped and evened out so Clockwork could work on a flat surface.

"Do you pal, huh?" Danny raised his voice and looked to his right. Over by the water's edge Phantom lay on his belly. Phantom heard his voice and reacted.

"_Rawun_?" He gave a garbled croon as he lifted his head from the pile of fish he was eating. A tail was hanging from his lips. His tail patted in the surf happily when their eyes met, the merman grinning widely.

Danny chuckled at the sight. "Yeah buddy, 'rawun'" He mimicked horribly. He still didn't have merman down, at least not vocally. Phantom beamed anyway and went back to eating, apparently oblivious to the conversation.

"Hn. Ghost cares a bit about nothing and a whole hell of a lot about one thing."

Danny turned back and put his crossed arms on the desk, sighing softly. "Yeah. Don't I know." Four years and Phantom still never ceased to amaze him. They sat in silence for a moment, Danny mindlessly poking a little moon themed clock with its face exposed. He fiddled with it until Clockwork gave him a look and Danny gave a sheepish grin in return. He withdrew his finger and spoke again,

"I don't know _what_ to do, Clockwork. I don't even know how to get him to eat so he'll trust me. He didn't like the anchovies." He was careful to keep his voice down, because he was pretty sure Phantom really was asleep this time. The merman's fish was all gone anyway, and a full stomach meant a sleepy merman. At least for a while.

"From your description he sounds like he has strains of vampirism in him, which explains the different diet."

Danny blinked. "Vamp…_Vampirism_? Like, blood sucking? He, that's a thing you guys can _do_?"

"Not all of us. Generally speaking, not even a quarter of us. He sounds about as rare as Phantom."

"Which means…?"

"You had better treat him as such." Clockwork's voice was grave, and stern. In the backdrop of his words 'and don't do anything you'll regret.'

Danny gave a small frown. "You make it sound like I'm going to jump in the tank first chance I get."

"You've done stupider things." Clockwork reminded dryly, sparing him a look that Danny had seen his parents give him a lot. It just made Danny like Clockwork more, to be honest.

Danny gave a little grin and reminded "Well, yeah. I never said I didn't. Just, not without Phantom."

"Ah. So _that's_ what you're really worried about."

"Erh…it's just…"

"That and considering the relationship you've got to juggle between him and that Gray girl. Are you sure you want to possibly provoke the Ghost's protective streak like that too?"

Danny snorted.

"I'm not worried about Phantom, Clock. I'm worried for Phantom, you know? What if I bring in a predator, and throw the whole balance off in the Reef? Or, what if I can't get him free, and out of that stupid circus thing." The human shuddered, rubbing his arm.

"At this point, I'd say you need to weigh your options better. Maybe not keep things from the Ghost. But, be sensitive to what you do supply him."

"I'm not gonna lie—" But Clockwork cut him off with a hand and a glance.

"That's not what I'm saying."

Danny fell quiet, dropping his gaze from Clockwork's.

"Phantom? Uh, just remember tomorrow we've got to meet up with Valerie and look for clues about what's been going on."

"I know, Minnow." Phantom sighed, stretching like a lazy cat. His tail curled to purposefully brush Danny's legs, merman speak for affection and love.

"And I'm not gonna be out early, okay?" Danny dropped the bombshell with a smile he hoped was convincing.

"You're going to leave me with that witch?" Phantom asked, looking at Danny like he'd grown a second head.

"Of course not—I don't have a death wish for her." Danny shot his partner a reproachful glare, to which Phantom returned with his cutest cooing noise and big innocent eyes. Danny wasn't fooled one bit.

"We're not meeting with Valerie until later in the day. I'll be at the cover mid afternoon, okay?"

Phantom simply shrugged and yawned.

**oOo**

Danny had this nagging sense of déjà vu he couldn't shake.

It could have because he was sneaking into a place he wasn't exactly supposed to be. Or, that he was smuggling fish with him. Or maybe, it was because he was trying to lure a potentially murderous mythical sea monster from the depths with a line of fish in the hope he could get a better look at it.

Yep. Definitely déjà vu. All he wanted was to try and make friends.

Maybe…maybe he should just try and survive, before he wished for anything else. God, that merman looked mad. Not just mad, mad didn't scare Danny. Desperate, yes. That did. Because a desperate merman, a desperate anything really, wasn't thinking straight.

He may or may not have lied to Clockwork when he said he wasn't going to drop into the tank.

Thankfully, it turned out he did have to make his words a lie.

The merman's tank in the far back had a long section of plastic flooring even with the water level. His parent's new laboratory (funded by Vlad) had one, and it was perfect for these sort of interactions. Humans could leave if they wanted, and had the choice of standing with their feet getting maybe five centimeters wet when the water wasn't being moved. And of course the sea creature had access to its entire tank and could, if it wanted, come up on the board and sit or lay or crawl around.

So really, Danny couldn't have asked for a better set up. The early morning meant no one on the ship was awake, except maybe the performers, and none of them seemed lively enough to make a lot of noise. All of them ignored Danny anyway, and he couldn't see the vampire merman yet. It had taken only an a few minutes to sneak on board, (thanks to the jet ski) and even less time to slink around the dark deck into the subbasement where he found what he could only assume to be the other half of the merman's tank. Danny wished idly for his swim suit to help with the lack of light, but managed to grope until his eyes adjusted and he was able to walk with much surer steps.

Danny spotted a title card as he walked by it.

"Plasmius…? What the heck…well, that's gotta be it. Don't think they'd name the octopus _Plasmius_." Okay, he couldn't judge. His best friend was Ghost Ghost Krakenkiller. Didn't exactly roll off the tongue, Danny thought with a wry smile as he shut the door behind him and toward the ladder. He took it down onto the flat level, water skirting round his sneakers. It was smooth, broken only by the gentle rock of the boat as it sat in the bay in Amity.

"So far…so good." Danny whispered to himself. He lowered his water proof pack to the ground, kneeling before it as he started digging out a package. For an extra bonus he pulled out some sea grapes. Imported for his parent' experiments, but once he found Phantom went absolutely nuts for them, Danny had taken to hoarding them as special gifts for other merpeople he was befriending.

The first blueback herring went into the water quietly as Danny could muster.

For a moment, nothing happened. Danny didn't move. He didn't breathe.

Then a fin glided into view and sank. It was coming from under the deck. Slow and calculating, nothing at all like the fast, quick thinking Phantom.

"C'mon, c'mon…go for it," Danny pushed the words through gritted teeth, eyes locked on the dead fish.

It didn't just vanish with a little noise.

It got _barreled_ into, and destroyed.

Danny yelped as the merman from before came up onto the deck from the force of his jump, chomping harshly into the flesh and burying his long fangs deep. Danny jumped back, landing on his butt and not quite pressed against the slightly rounded wall of the tank. Their eyes locked, crimson red piercing into his soul as they stared back at one another. Danny watched in morbid curiosity as the merman tightened his jaw, still staring at Danny, sucked something right out of the fish like it was a straw. The fish actually crumpled, crushing into itself.

Danny swallowed, throat dry.

After the slurping noise faded, the black haired mer turned and spit the flattened husk away from him as if it disgusted him.

His tail was still in the water, hidden. But Danny saw the shackles, and _then_ heard the growling.

"It's okay! It's okay…" Danny hushed, holding his hands out inoffensively as he got his bearings.

"I'm a friend." Danny remembered Phantom, how when they first met the merman didn't know a lick of English and reacted as such. He had even gone so far as to try and talk to him in the verbal language of merpeople, a series of complicated noises that ranged from a threatening whale like bellow to the soft murmur like wave froth trickling over rocks.

Plasmius made no attempt at any of this. He simply lay there, braced up on his shackled arms glaring angrily at the human who was a solid nine feet from him. The iron shackles looked nearly taught. So Danny edged forward and revealed another herring, this one the length of his forearm and plump.

"They're uh, fresh." Danny offered, holding the fish up to get the merman's eye. Plasmius flicked between him and the fish, each time rebearing his vicious looking fangs. But Danny could see the hunger clouding his thoughts and watched closely as the merman's tail waved and wagged through the water.

"You can have it." He could have just slid it over or made sure it landed remotely close to Plasmius.

But Danny had a haunch, and blame the fact he was a product of his raising, but he needed to test it out. Danny moved his arm, and the fish went flying. It sailed clear over his shoulder and Plasmius spun, hissing like a kettle as his eyes slitted and he lunged, smacking it away on reflex into the water of his tank. With the smack came a bunched action, his blue shoulders rising and his back tensing.

Away, the fish was smacked. Like it scared him.

"…Oh boy." Danny sighed, having come upon the realization that as impressive Plasmius was…

He reacted like an abused animal.

Afraid and aggressive toward every little thing—for survival. Conditioning.

Danny watched the merman swim after the fish. Deemed harmless, Plasmius tore into it and did the same.

When Plasmius flicked his gaze quickly to see where the human was, Danny was gone.

In his place, close to the water's edge, was several more fish.

**oOo**

It was only one in the afternoon and Valerie wanted to go back to bed.

Mostly, she just didn't want to be at her current spot on the beach, standing in the once hidden cove where Danny and Phantom had apparently first met.

She could tell that something was stalking her. She'd done enough of it on her own to know the signs and realize the little hairs standing on the back of her neck were cause by something important. Something in the _water_, but it was impossible to see. She couldn't check on the dash on her Ski, that meant wading into the thigh deep pool where she'd left it. And she wasn't an idiot.

Valerie tried breathing evenly, focusing on not letting her heart thud about of her skin and tried to look casually bored no matter what.

A blotch of green blue shimmered, then vanished. Again. And a third time.

She narrowed her eyes and turned toward the glimmer. Before she knew it she was raising a fist and preparing to raise her voice too, at who or whatever was trying to play games with her.

Then Phantom leaped out of the water on her left side, the place she wasn't looking at, and _swiped_ at her. He spread his fins and settled on a large rock easily, reaching a good foot higher than her as he glared down and crackled in the back of his throat. She didn't quite yelp, but there might have been a noise.

"Asshole! I'm supposed to be here! You think you can chase me away, huh?" Valerie challenged despite her initial reaction. She took a step back into the soft sand, her heel digging in as she stood her ground.

"I wasn't _trying_ to chase you away, Guppy." Phantom snapped as he watched the sand cave out from under her one foot and she toppled into the green blue pool.

"_Hey!"_

Phantom only watched on smugly as she floundered and gracelessly scrambled back onto the rocky shore.

"Oh, shame. You'd think two legs would give you extra balance, _human_." Phantom hummed in mock sadness, resting his cheek on a palm.

"You—" She growled, taking a step toward him threateningly.

At the tone in her voice shifted from annoyance to honest anger, Phantom caught on too. He cut her off with a shriek, his head fins flattened back against his skull. The merman spread his large fins, arching his back like a cat as he spread his jaw and showed off those many dangerous fangs. Valerie froze as Phantom's glowing eyes locked on her, his body bunching up more as he dug his talons into the rock. She thought she saw something gathering in the back of his throat, something crackling white like lightning but that was impossible wasn't it, merman couldn't—

"Phantom! Hey buddy!" A new voice, light with happiness broke the atmosphere as Danny rode up on his Ski.

Valerie watched, stunned as Danny jumped off and waded the rest of the distance between him and the merman. But Valerie was more interesting in watching Phantom perk up and lift his head, big head fans spreading wide and pupils large and black. He closed his jaws and shook himself, silver hair sending water droplets everywhere. His tail slapped in the surf and the huge flukes curled in what appeared to be joy as the two came close enough that Phantom could bump their foreheads together. Danny laughed at the tickling sensation Phantom's wiggling head tendrils made as they flitted against his skin, checking him over.

"…Minnow? You smell like herring? And something else. Fake water?" The merman sniffed him curiously, dropping English to switch to confused murring. Danny smiled and let the merman nuzzle and nudge him for attention.

"Oh, nothing. I had some morning chores for mom and dad. Don't worry about it, Phantom. I promise I'll fill you in later, okay?" Danny smiled, and Phantom dropped the subject with a little shrug.

"Ready?" That was addressed to Valerie, Danny offering a lopsided smile as he waved. "I thought we'd start off of the southern part of the Island where the most caves are. A lot of those caves connect to other Islands."

Valerie wasn't sure who to glare at, so she settled for Danny. He was the most harmless one out of the two, after all.

"Whatever."

This day was going to suck, and she just knew it.

**oOo**

Danny wasn't quite sure what to think.

"Valerie, _how_ are we supposed to look together if you keep splitting up from us?!" Danny cried, not for the first time since they'd started out.

"_You_ keep sending that thing on ahead." The girl shot back through her helmet as her Ski coasted closer.

"Because he moves faster and is scouting ahead!"

Danny moaned and turned his attention back to the island shore they were heading up to. Well, it wasn't really an island as it was a cluster of higher rocks. But it was what was _in_ the rocks that interested them. Phantom's thick flukes caught the setting sun as they rose above the water and dipped back under, the merman leading them. Danny could already see what Phantom was heading for, a large cave opening that could be holding some sort of secret. They had deduced whatever it was leaving the bodies hadn't moved them. So they were luring merfolk in and killing them, which meant it would primarily be found in a cave. Danny also realized, dimly, Vlad probably wanted him and Phantom to look with Valerie for one _other_ reason.

Danny watched that reason lift his head and turn back to them, roaring to make sure they could see him. Danny smiled softly, and wondered if Phantom knew he was bait.

Knowing Phantom, he probably did.

The thing was, Danny was worried for the possible killer—not so much his best friend.

"He's gonna get eaten if he keeps going on like that." Valerie muttered, not sounding so sad over the idea. Danny spared her a mild frown and responded,

"No….no I don't see that happening. Phantom's the apex predator here, not anything out this deep, not like whales or anything."

"Wait, he eats whales?"

"Only one time. It swallowed me by accident and Phantom uh, sort of went up through its underbelly to get me."

"…gross."

Danny shrugged and dropped the subject.

It wasn't long before they had locked the skis into the rock bed and had dismounted. Thankfully the cave wasn't deep in terms of water depth. It started maybe at their hips and then lowered the further in they crept.

Phantom went ahead, brightening his scales to illuminate the dark cave. Up ahead, Danny was a light, and was mildly surprised.

"…is this new?"

"What?"

"That big hole at the top, there. Up there."

Phantom followed his gaze and shrugged as well.

"Oh." Valerie shrugged noncommittally and turned on her flashlight, pointing it over the dark water and into the walls, up and over.

"Ow!" she hissed a moment later, pulling her foot out of the water and rubbing it.

"What's wrong?" Danny asked, one hand on Phantom's head for balance as he moved into shallower waters. The merman purred and supported him carefully, slinking with him until the water only covered a few inches of his huge tail.

"Nothing, I just stubbed my toe on something, a rock or, I dunno—" She bent down and retrieved it.

"Clam, apparently."

Phantom screeched and jerked back, glaring at the item in her hand. Danny nearly overbalanced and sent Phantom an unamused look. Valerie saw this and rolled her eyes, theatric as Phantom was currently being. It was honestly starting to drive Danny up a wall and down the other side.

"They're just clams!" She tossed it and it bounced off Phantom's scaly shoulder. It landed back in the water with a plop, but Phantom whipped his head to glare at her and hissed like a tom cat. In a flash he had dived under the water, retriever the clam shell and pelted it right back at her with an annoyed glint in his toxic eyes.

"Hey!"

"You threw at him first! What, did you think he would just take it lying down?" Danny cried in exasperation, throwing his hands up.

"You're lucky he didn't find another one—" and as Danny said that, as luck would have it, another smacked into Valerie's hair and plunked quietly back into the water.

"What do merpeople have against clams!?" The girl snapped in frustration as Phantom roared in laughter and sent a spray of water right at her back, making her stagger.

"Well, think about it." Danny started easily, reaching down with his hand held out. Phantom pouted but obediently handed over the clam he intended to throw at Valerie. Danny stood up and waded over, holding it out for her to see.

"They aren't the easiest to open, and some not at all. Even then, the amount of food one gives is ridiculous in comparison to a growing merbody's needed intake of calories. Since their only a limited supply in schools during certain seasons, Phantom likes stuff that's bigger and faster to eat so he can be on his way. They don't really have time to sit down and hammer thirty or so open just to feel full. So, yeah, there's a little resent on Phantom's side. Can't say I blame him."

Valerie had been staring at him the whole way through this. At the end when Danny looked up, she had her arms crossed and was giving him such a look.

"…what?" he asked innocently, pulling out a pen knife and working to pry the clam open.

"Freak." She muttered under her breath as he handed the now open clam back to Phantom. The merman ignored Valerie's remark in favor of warbling happily and quickly swiping the morsel out of the shells inside with his long tongue.

And when it was licked clean he pelted the back of Valerie's head with it when she turned away.

Danny scolded him, but it was worth it. The merman cackled and leaped back into the shallow water to swim after them.

"Find anything?"

"Just some bones. I'm not; I don't think they're from anything big enough to have been a merman, honestly."

"But it's still something. Something's been eating here. _Just_ bones?" Danny sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Then it couldn't have been recently. There's not even a smell of decay."

He looked around, feeling a bit hopeless. This was getting them nowhere, and sunset was in a few hours. They really should start heading back soon, it was a good twenty minutes to get back to amity Island on the Skis.

"Phantom?" Danny asked into the dark.

"I'm right here, Minnow." Phantom hummed softly as he illuminated his scales. The scales shimmered into a bright white, his skin turning pale and luminescent as he light up the space around him.

"I don't see _anything_ to give us a clue here." Phantom shot him a sympathetic look and glanced around some more. Valerie made a noise of frustration and turned to Danny, hands on her hips.

"Can't your—can't fishboy tell if something's been here?"

Phantom wrinkled his nose at her and slithered pointedly away. Danny shook his head at both of them.

"That's not how it works. Phantom's got heightened senses sure, but they can be just as limited as ours." Danny tried to explain, watching Phantom sniff the air and grunt, frowning when nothing apparently came up. The merman went back to searching, so Danny did too.

"Besides, his electrolocation doesn't work so well when he's out of water." Danny shrugged.

"He has electrolocation?"

"It took a while to develop, but yeah. Come to think of it…" Danny half spoke to himself, musing out loud. "If something _was_ dead, and didn't have a beating heart I guess Phantom couldn't pick up anything like a victim then, could he? Huh."

Suddenly, Phantom froze.

Danny spotted it first, mostly because his other half was directly in his line of vision. The young man did a double take, watching the merman's body language shift abruptly as he became aware of something. The merman had gone from inquisitive and relaxed to tense and alert in a second, and that was never good.

"Phantom?" Danny asked in confusion, stepping in a circle to watch the merman's head frills flicking. Phantom moved the rest of his body too, edging in a tight, anxious circle as he sniffed the water lapping at his wrists. His tail dragged him behind him, and his head fans opened and closed, trying to read a situation.

"What's happening?" Danny asked.

The rock under the water, under their feet, suddenly _shuddered_. Those head fins moved more rapidly. The sensation rolled under them, quivering into their very bones and shaking the humans. Phantom, who was much more balanced, shrieked at the ground and shoved behind Danny's legs, herding him toward the deep dark pool ocean water.

"Earthquake!" Danny realized, stumbling into the water up to his waist. He yelped as the rocks above them cracked and wiggled worryingly. He found himself unable to panic much; the last earthquake Amity had seen was the year before he was born. So why _now_? They'd gotten rid of the kraken!

"Valerie! Come on, move!" Danny spun around in the water, facing the girl still trying to get her footing on the far wall. Everyone turned to look at the cave opening they'd come through as the ground and walls shook with a harder wave. The second the opening started caving in, Phantom moved past Danny. Rocks tumbled loose, crumbling from entrance to where they stood, everyone staring in horror as the only entrance they'd been become blocked. There was the splashing of water, and Danny realized they couldn't even reach the Skis anymore either, that is, if the skis didn't get crushed by the rock avalanche. The other opening at the top was certainly too high, and Danny wasn't going to leave Phantom. He cast around, spotting the merman's tail vanish under the waves. Suddenly Phantom popped back up, roaring at him to get his attention. Danny gritted his teeth and nodded, meeting the merman's urgent gaze.

"Phantom—get Valerie!"

The merman balked and threw him a face, searching his boy's eyes. Begging him to ask him something else. Danny sent him a reprimanding glare, smacking water at him.

"Phantom, _go_!" The desperate tone ripped from his voice, so Phantom broke and lunged obediently. He grabbed her hand with his webbed one, standing up on his large tail and gave an urgent noise in the back of his throat.

"H-hey! Let go—"

"Great! Just, just get us out of here!" Danny called as their world shook again.

Phantom ignored Valerie's protests and yanked her hard, right into the water. She screamed, but it and Danny's hearing was cut off as the waves swallowed them up. Phantom had plunged into the bottom of the cavern, and as he had passed Danny had grabbed the giant dorsal fin with one hand, holding to it fast. The merman pulled him effortlessly, still holding the struggling, kicking Valerie. When she got his head fin with her yanking fingers he let go and swam down further, but Danny's arm locked round her waist. Surprisingly, she didn't fight as much once she realized he was the one holding her. The world around them, rocks and dirt and sand, shuddered and trembled with horrifying grumbles through the earth. Valerie's hold tightened in what Danny could assume to be fear, and he didn't blame her. Phantom swung them past the sinking mounds and pushed off one to pick up speed as he swam toward the bottom. The water picked up the vibrations and by association, so did Phantom.

Suddenly, a tunnel was coming up. It was recognizable only by a wide dark gaping hole, in all honesty it could have been a black hole in space and Danny wouldn't have known the difference. The inky mass sent fear arcing through his spine like lightning, but the overall fear of being crushed if the cave collapsed in from the earthquake, scared him just a little more. He tightened his hold on Phantom's fin.

Phantom dragged them both through without even missing a beat of his tail, swimming into the pitch black tunnel like he wasn't burdened at all by the lack of sight. They could be swimming into rocks or shark's teeth and they wouldn't know the damn difference. They didn't even know if the tunnel was straight or not. (Judging by Phantom's twisting and diving, it wasn't.) Danny's stomach somersaulted as Phantom corkscrewed, roaring into the black. Suddenly phantom rose, bringing them up above the water into a much lower cave than before. Both humans instinctively sucked in air and held it, and it was good they did. Phantom spared them a moment to collect oxygen before he plummeted in a steep dive. His scales started glowing, illuminating the cave for Danny to see his head fins moving quickly, receiving information dependant on their survival. Phantom swam around a stalagmite crumbling down into space. The merman surged ahead, only pausing to gather energy as he beat his tail. Valerie burbled, whether in fear or anger Danny wasn't sure. She started to loosen her grip and Danny grabbed her tighter, trusting Phantom guide them out. Maybe he seemed a little crazy-but crazy hadn't let him down yet.

Phantom pivoted sharply to the side, huge fins flapping at the currents and beating them into a different direction. Danny felt his lungs start to burn and on reflex tightened his grip. Valerie probably didn't have the same lung capacity Danny had built up over four years, so he sent out a garbled stream of bubbles. It sort of sounded like the merman's name. Phantom tossed them a look over his shoulder and yapped a burbled response back. When he looked ahead again it was up as into light, filtering softly down from above. Danny closed his eyes and just tried to _hold on_, knowing that once Phantom saw the surface light, he would only pick up speed.

And pick up speed he did.

When Phantom started angling sideways, Danny understood what he was going to do. He peeked open an eye, noticing Phantom's scales dim considerably as the now open undersea world was a blur below the merman's body. Sand ripples melted together. Still, he dragged them into the shallower water. The sandbar he could see was helping him realize what they were approaching. Danny could see little spots dancing before his eyes, but he didn't let go. The surface was seven…five…four feet away—

A second later the merman shot out straight of the water, pulling both humans with him. They left the ocean fast, and the gained momentum was kept when Danny heard the familiar sound of webbing opening. It flapped lightly once, keeping them going.

They soared through the air a good seven feet and started descending quickly. Danny was vaguely aware of the body under him spinning and something wide and heavy blanketing most of his body. It turned out to be Phantom's hip wings, tucking him tight as they hit a sand dune and bounced to a stop a ways away.

Danny coughed, but he was _breathing_ and sucked in air greedily. He could hear Valerie doing it too, somewhere to his left. She coughed once or twice. Phantom was panting, gills probably flaring hard from the sudden change in environment around them.

"Phan—Phantom," Danny choked, pushing at a scaled chest. "G-go back into the sea. Just a bit." He panted.

"Don't breathe air after that, you know it hurts." He pushed harder."C'mon, go. _Please_, Phantom."

The please probably did it. He felt his body released by reluctant fins and warbled tiredly and rolled out from under him, dragging himself into the trundling surf. Danny watched the waves swallow his friend up and only then did Danny let his head hit the sand with a soft thud.

He stared at the sky, chest heaving, and simply reaffirmed his own existence for a solid five minutes. Upon further realization, the earthquake seemed to have stop. The aftershocks probably hit while Phantom had them in the water in the open sea. At least, Danny hoped so.

He looked up a bit, and around. After deciding they were on an island somewhat remotely close to Amity, he went back to relaxing.

"W….wow." Valerie's voice was soft. But Danny heard it. He smiled tiredly at the indigo sky.

"Yeah." He said.

"….we flew." Valerie breathed.

Danny's smile widened as he listened to her shock and awe.

"Yeah."

"I don't…why'd he grab me?" Valerie actually sounded scared, or at least in shock a little.

"…huh? What do you mean why did he grab you—I asked him too? Weren't gonna let you get crushed in there." Danny said easily, finally managing to sit up. He had a little headache, but that was probably from the sudden altitude change. How deep had that tunnel been to get out, Danny wondered briefly.

Still, he was perfectly fine. Phantom was around somewhere so all that was left was Valerie. Danny stood up and walked over, helping her into a sitting position. She sat in the sand, breathing through her mouth.

"You okay?" He asked as he took a knee, reaching to put a hand on her shoulder. When she cast a faint glare at him, he pulled his hand back and shrugged, instead choosing to sit near her. He drew his knees up to his chest and watched a familiar tail flick above and dip down.

"Phantom's back." Danny said, mostly to himself as the merman swam out of the sea, something sticking from his mouth. When he saw Danny he perked up and slid over, coming to a stop beside him and letting the seaweed out of his mouth. Danny snorted fondly and took a few pieces, leaving most of the thick pile to Phantom.

"You want some?" Danny asked around the bit he'd torn off and was chewing. "I know it looks weird, but it's actually pretty good…" Phantom grumbled when Danny offered his share, but Danny silenced him with a look.

Valerie was staring at him like he'd grown another head.

"…Okay. Suit yourself." Phantom devoured the rest, gobbling every last strand down. He licked his lips and rolled his tail a bit so Danny could lean up against him, folding his thick fins elegantly. The young man leaned back automatically, exhaling.

Valerie was pointedly not looking at them and trying to get her watch to work. This involved prodding, fiddling with dials and a lot of cursing.

"The stupid thing…" she muttered.

"We probably went down too deep, and the pressure broke it. Happens a lot. Happened to mine too." Danny commented, pointing to his, and the watch with the rusted over face on Phantom's wrist.

"Great! That's just great! Now we don't even have a map! I'm stuck on a rock with you and that thing, and we can't contact anyone! We can't call for help, nothing!" She cried, standing up and throwing her arms.

Danny let her go on for a minute before he dug through one of his pockets. He began to unfold a small little map, laminated thickly and only about the size of a piece of tabloid paper.

"Let's see…"

Phantom lifted up from his lying down position and craned his head to see, crooning quietly as he studied the map too.

"Any ideas?" Danny asked, tracing a line thoughtfully. Phantom quickly corrected him with a long black claw.

"We passed _this_ rock formation on the way up, Minnow. Judging by where the sun is now, I'd say….here." The merman paused, looking off to the side as his fan opened and waved back to front, his face scrunching as he scrutinized whatever he was picking up.

"North is that way." Phantom finally decided, and Danny turned the map. "It's either this island, or that one."

"Okay, so. Not _as bad_ as it could have been." Danny mused, shrugging a little.

"Not as bad as it was those three days we got lost and found Skull Isle." Phantom commented idly, giving his human an amused look, because it had been Danny who'd gotten them lost in the first place.

"Still my favorite name. And don't look at me in that tone of voice, how was I supposed to know electric eels messed up your navigating?"

Phantom snorted and whacked his cheek with a head fin.

"Wait you know where we are? Well then—how do we get back Fenton!"

"We'll have to swim. We're not in range of our jet skis, but we're close enough Phantom can pull us. I've still got some breathing caps left too, enough for an hour or so under water each."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's head back."

"Erh…"

"The sun will set soon." Phantom reminded with a trace amount of arrogance. "Would _you_ like to be swimming in the pitch black ocean at midnight? I know how humans love the dark so much."

"Phantom." Danny murmured softly, tone corrective. The merman sneered at Valerie and settled for a nap.

"Phantom's right, Valerie. It's no good to start out now. Phantom needs rest, you and I do too. we'll swim much better and longer after we do that. We can start out in the morning."

"Of course you'd side with him." She spat, kicking the sand.

Danny groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to get rid of the oncoming headache. Finally he looked up and in the most serious tone he'd used since they met said to Valerie,

"I'm going to side with him because we're the fish out of water here. In case you hadn't noticed, we're surrounded and Phantom can _help us_. Phantom's my—he's my best friend, okay? He was there when I had no one. He's never let me down." Danny sighed. "Never mind, I guess you wouldn't understand."

Valerie was oddly quiet, her jaw set and gazing out over the ocean.

Danny turned his attention back to the merman and saw Phantom staring up at him. There was a soft, familiar look in those toxic colored orbs and Danny couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks for saving us." Danny said again.

"Of course, Minnow." Phantom hummed the words and shifted in the sand to curl round Danny's body.

"Yeah." The voice was quiet, but there. "Uh, thanks. I guess."

Even Phantom looked surprised. But a thank you was a thank you nonetheless. Phantom warbled back in acceptance but was clearly mild confusion.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter 5**_

* * *

"Minnow, it is my turn tonight." Phantom reminded as he watched the humans eat their caught dinner. Using some semblance of teamwork they'd scrounged together a measly camp fire while Phantom hunted for some fish per Danny-boy's request. Phantom of course, had been all but putty in the human's hands and would have promised away his life without even caring about it. To be honest, he'd done that already, a few years ago. Danny had his heart.

And so Danny, his arms behind his head and sprawled out over the large merman's tail, mmed sleepily and shifted into a more comfortable position. They'd tossed the fish bones into the sea and the fire was dying down, sending flutters of smoke up into the night sky where stars twinkled.

"Yeah? Oh," He paused and tried to speak around a yawn, "It is, isn't it?"

"His night for what?" Valerie suddenly cut in, sitting beside them, but with several feet between her and the duo.

"Story night." Danny explained. "Phantom and I started it a while ago….we take turns. Maybe what? Once, twice a week."

"And I do not like breaking tradition." Phantom sounded haughty and all-mighty until Danny gave a short sarcastic laugh.

"That is _such_ a lie and you know it, Mister." The merman turned and snapped with sharp teeth at his black hair, crackling at the boy playfully until Danny flicked his black scaly cheek in return.

"Anyway, I don't see a problem." Danny smiled and dropped his body back into place. "You can tell a story pal, go on."

"Thank you, Minnow." Phantom hummed, nodding as he too settled himself. He folded his arms before shifting his large tail a bit, draping it over the boy like a blanket. Danny didn't seem to notice, or if he did he didn't move either way.

"This is the story of the Banshee."

"A what?"

Valerie was given such a contemptuous look from the merman she found herself clamping her jaw. She glared back.

"Phantom." Danny's voice was soft and hardly heard over the waves. His familiar voice brought Phantom back from his annoyance and it melted away. If Danny only knew how much sway he held over Phantom…

So the merman softened and snorted, reminding Valerie quietly he didn't _like_ interruptions. Danny stroked one of the merman's long curly tendrils until the merman was relaxed once more, and went on with his story.

"The banshee is a type of ghost that haunts the coast of Ireland, and generally haunts families it once belonged to. Some say they foretell deaths, others say they give their horrible cry after a death, etctera. A few Banshees even relish in taking a life and will stalk their victim wailing and screaming at them to the point that the victim goes insane or die." Phantom's smile was quick and fleeting, and Danny missed the wicked little quirk of his lips. He could see Danny mouthing the words 'wicked cry' with a look of confusion on his face, but the moment passed as Phantom pushed on with his story.

"Regardless, this story begins when a young woman named Lady Fanshaw who married Sir Richard, moved to his castle by the sea. All was going just fine until the second night, when she was awoken by this horrid screeching outside her window. Floating there was a woman with pale skin and a nasty wide jaw, erupting noises so unholy poor the human thought for sure she'd wake the dead. Or at the least the whole household."

The ocean lapped the sand gently, creating a frothy backtone as the merman spoke. His eyes were far out over the black water, lost in another time. Danny watched him closely, blue eyes searching.

"The next morning, the woman comes and asks her husband, half expecting to be brushed off or not believed. Imagine her surprised of course, when he nods and says something like 'a near relation of my family just died last night in this castle. We didn't want to scare you, but she appears every time before a death in the family.' Lady Fanshaw is shocked of course, but that isn't all she learns."

The merman's many flukes shifted lazily up and down, like a thoughtful cat twitching its tail.

"'She is believed to be the spirit of a woman of inferior rank,' Richards tells her, 'Whom one of my ancestors degraded himself by marrying, and whom afterwards, to expiate the dishonor done to his family, he caused to be drowned in the moat.'"

"Was she?" Danny asks when there's a surprisingly long pause. The merman didn't normally fall so quiet like that. "…Phantom?"

"Hm? Oh, no. In fact, that was a lie. The spirit who haunted the grounds was in fact murdered over something else. She was married, but fell in love with a merman in the sea beside the castle, and lost her life when the town found out."

"Jeez." Danny's voice is soft but filled with a heavy sympathy Phantom admired.

"It turned out alright, Minnow. The banshee did find her merman love again, and as another creature unbound by the land they could finally be together. But the point about the story was how the Banshee, a ghost doomed to a life in the world of the humans, finally found her love in the sea. Another sort of freedom I guess."

"What about Lady Fanshaw?" Valerie asked, surprising all of them, even herself. Phantom shrugged.

"She died."

"_What_?"

"She died." Phantom said simply. "The banshee had been foretelling _her_ death it turns out, not the dying relative's. The ghost was….was trying to warn her."

"But did the banshee actually do the killing? I mean, if she hadn't actually done any of the…" Danny murmurs, glancing over at his merman. Phantom's green eyes met him, suddenly serious. After a moment, Phantom answered,

"…no, Danny. She did not."

"Oh. Well. I guess that's good."

"….that's his idea of a story?"

Danny laughed. "It was a little dark." He admitted, stroking some black scales idly.

Phantom could tell he unsettled the humans, which hadn't exactly been part of the plan. He couldn't do something like take it back though, so instead he curled his tail round Danny's side more and settled into the sand pointedly. He felt a hand ruffle his hair fondly, and purred happily, closing his eyes.

Well, the point of what he and Danny did was to tell stories. Lies were part of the whole fabrication of such a thing, weren't they? Perhaps it was better if Minnow didn't know the true story. Who exactly this was better for, Phantom didn't know. But nothing had happened to Danny yet, so…

Maybe…just maybe, that was one trait Phantom _hadn't_ inherited from his mother the Banshee.

**oOo**

Valerie just didn't understand it.

How long had she spent, using the merfolk as an excuse for her family's poverty and depression? It had been so easy too; they were all mindless, filthy monsters. Focused only on stealing fish, drowning humans who got to close and generally just making life for hard working fishermen complete Hell. The fact they weren't the only mythical sea creatures only made it worse—but they were the easiest to detain. Let the kracken and white whale do what they wanted, merfolk were human sized or only a bit bigger, which made them easy targets.

Her work for Mr. Masters had only distanced her even more from ever seeing the monsters as little more than _tools_. Some thought they could weapons, or side shows, but Valerie wouldn't have given them that much credit. They were uncivilized, uncaring, mean-spirited, the males especially! And…

And right now one of them was curling over Danny and nestling him into the sand. To make matters more confusing, the merman was purring like a motorboat and taking great care to tuck his fins close and lay his wide tail over Danny's legs.

Danny gripped at the manhandling by the much bigger Phantom, but it was empty and more amused than anything as he yawned and closed his eyes. Within minutes, she was sure Fenton was asleep. She thought she heard him murmur something, something about 'elephant shoes' but perhaps she was just hearing things.

Phantom merely smiled softly, bending to nuzzle their cheeks together in an oddly gentle gesture. Danny slept on, completely unaware and at the mercy of this sea monster as it loomed over him, keeping large wing like fins curled tight over Danny's sleeping form. Around them the wind whispered through the palm trees behind them, and the ocean trickled and sloshed quietly. It reminded her of what her mother told her when she was a little girl and her father wasn't home yet.

'_He's in love with the sea, that father of yours.' Her_ mother would laugh softly and wink at her, as if this was some tasty secret. _'It's hard not to be. I don't mind not being the only woman in his life, because I love the sea too. It's hard to live on an island and not. You'll fall in love with it too, one day.'_

Valerie went back to gazing out over the ocean, unsure why looking at Danny and Phantom together made her think of such a memory. Well you couldn't get much more in touch with the sea than a merperson, she mused to herself.

There was an alien expression in the merman's eyes as he pulled back to regard the human below him. Then, purring softly as if it were a lullaby, Phantom rested his head softly on Danny's shoulder and let his own eyes drop closed.

Valerie stared for a moment, observing the two cast in the moonlight. As her contempt for Phantom specifically faded, it was replaced by the bitter taste of jealousy that curdled in her stomach like spoiled milk. Watching the two interact all day and seeing the absolute trust Danny had for Phantom and the adoration the merman had for him, it was…strange.

And she _hated_ herself for wanting something remotely close to what they had.

Not even one of love—the love for them seemed to mean simply being in one another's presence, sharing things, stories and food and touches. There were no stolen kisses or glances because everything Danny and Phantom had seemed to already _belong_ to them. Like they were both wove so tightly together it would be hard for one to function with the other missing for too long. At the same time, they were independent in some ways; they had to be after all. Phantom couldn't leave the ocean for more than a couple hours. This handicap only seemed to make the two closer, and it confused Valerie to no end.

It must be nice, to have a partnership like that with someone. To be so complete the two of you were so used to one another. Nothing seemed to surprise them anymore.

A cold wind blew off the water, and her teeth clacked.

A single, glowing eye flickered open and stared at her.

Give a girl some credit, because Valerie stopped her shivering by pure focus alone and sent him a challenging, stubborn 'you wanna go?' look right back.

Phantom narrowed his eyes, wrinkled his nose and promptly snorted. Not buying it, he seemed to say. He went to lower his head again, but this time the wind swept right through Valerie's suit and she shook hard. She kept up her glare even as Phantom tried to look away, but he was shooting her glances that seemed to read as something akin to worry. He seemed to be going through an internal battle, wiggling his head fans and shaking his head. And of course, bearing those sharp teeth as he glared at the sand above Danny's black hair. Danny slept on, unaware.

Finally, Phantom heaved a sigh and turned back to lock their eyes.

The piercing, unreadable gaze shifted to something strangely mild and questioning as Phantom suddenly rolled his tail a bit. Valerie blinked, forgetting to be tough as she stared at the posture. He lifted the top hip fin and held it back out of the way, gesturing at the girl with a little nod of his head, from her to the space he'd just created. He was lying mostly on Danny or on his left, and now his right side was free.

She stared back, trying to comprehend what Phantom was _doing_.

"Oh. Uh…I-I'm fine, yeah…" She tried, trailing off dumbly as Phantom shot her an unconvinced look.

The merman jerked his head again toward the cavity created between his belly and the sand, parting his lips to warble in the back of his throat. Even now he was careful to keep his voice low so he wouldn't wake his sleeping partner. Valerie eyed him warily a moment, but soon found herself inching over a little bit. Despite Fenton's body, he was so far in the depression in the sand and wedged under Phantom she had enough room to settle so that Phantom's bigger body was breaking the wind and offering _some_ shelter.

This seemed to satisfy the merman because he gave a rather charming little coo and dropped his long lower body back into place. This time the merman's left hip fin came down and spread over a good chunk of Valerie's torso. She tried to relax her body as it stiffened. But Phantom didn't attack. He didn't seem to be playing a trick. She spared the quickest glance to her left, eyes craning to see the merman's head fins. The long loopy tendril was relaxed and slouched down from its normal curl. He lowered his chin back on Danny's shoulder and started purring again. She noticed a pattern quickly, now that she was so damn close (and _warm_ now, whoa) that every time Danny stirred or shifted like he was going to wake up, Phantom purred until he stopped moving about and he relaxed back into to sleep.

…why was that cute? That shouldn't be cute. Coming from the murderous sea monster, and she was laying here thinking he was sort of cute. When he was all murderous and half-drowning her.

Valerie wondered, not for the first time, just what she had been thinking.

But warmth was seeping back into her skin, reaching her bones and making her surprisingly groggy. She didn't understand how Phantom's skin felt so cold and clammy in the day but then at night it became much higher than the humans currently seeking refuge under him. She wanted to know more, maybe ask him. But it was late, and she was tired, and the stars were mesmerizing up above. She soon got lost trying to count them. And after she got lost counting stars, her eyelids became too heavy to keep open.

To her left and a bit above, she thought she heard Phantom chuckle before he closed his eyes.

'_You'll fall in love with it too, one day.'_

The next morning, Phantom woke her up by flicking a clam shell at her. Valerie's eyes shot open and she sat up quickly, hoping to deny anything before Fenton could start teasing her on it.

But he wasn't anywhere close to them, and the indent Phantom had dug him into the sand was filled in and the merman was sitting on it, grinning at her and crouched low to the ground. His tail was wiggling, and he was bunching up like a cat before it pounced—_oh_.

"No! No, don't you **dare**!" She shrieked, clambering to her feet. Phantom gave the most disappointed looks she'd seen yet, complete with a tiny pout of all things.

"Whoa, whoa! Easy, Valerie. Look, if you don't _look_ like prey the predator won't go after you, get it?" That was Danny, walking up behind her with two small coconuts in his arms.

"Tell _him_ that!" She muttered, but lost her train of thought when she was given one of the fruit.

"How did you…?"

"Climbed." To which Danny raised his arms, flexing them.

"Swimming really bumps up your upper body strength."

"You threw rocks at them till one fell, didn't you?" Phantom snorted in amusement as he ducked Danny's reprimanding swing.

"Very funny. Now, do you mind?"

"Not at all, Minnow."

And like that, Phantom turned and stretched his mouth open, angling his head before he sank one set of top fangs deep into the meat of the coconut. After a moment where the canines sank a little deeper, Phantom promptly withdrew them and Danny tested the holes, getting a drink.

"You want Phantom to open—?" Danny gestured.

"I can do it myself, thanks." Valerie was already back across the little camp and plonking herself down with her 'breakfast.'

Danny shrugged and handed his coconut to Phantom so the merman could drink.

"Suit yourself." He sighed, sounding a touch exasperated. Phantom took one gulp, but refused anymore, making Danny drink the rest.

That was it, that right there. Valerie just didn't understand it.

Why was the merman so worried about Fenton, that it felt the need to take care of him like that?

Why wasn't he a monster to him too?

**oOo**

"Wait…you've never been down in the reef? _Any_ of it?" Danny asked, incredulousness lacing his voice. Even Phantom looked surprised as he waited in the surf, body propped up by his arms.

The sun had risen, casting a warm glow and rising the temperature so much that by now the humans were looking forward to going into the cool waters of the ocean. Judging by the sun it was only nine or so, but Danny knew the sooner they got back the better. He and Valerie had struck up small talk, which had led to an offhanded comment about how Valerie didn't know the reef and didn't seem bothered by this.

Danny was just plain bewildered. It only strengthened when the girl shrugged as she tied her hair back for the upcoming swim.

"No. I've been around it, or over it. That was always close enough to get my research done. Besides, aren't they all like him?" She asked, using her elbow to point in the merman's general direction.

Phantom blinked innocently back at her.

"Territorial, I mean." Valerie elaborated, giving the merman a pointed look. She didn't buy any of his cute act, it seemed. Danny didn't blame her for that. Phantom was a layered creature, even he has trouble still, when it came to figuring out the merman's true motives for something.

Despite this, the young man waded into the water and bent down, giving the merman a playful noogie in his silver hair and fiddling with a curly head frill. The merman looked delighted and snapped his jaws out, tossing his head and latching his wide jaws around Danny's arm. He looked like a puppy gumming its chew toy, and Danny laughed.

"Well, sure but I mean…there's ways of getting around that. It's not hard, if you're being truthful." Danny was giving her an odd little look, one Valerie was torn between thinking was charming, but also mischievous. She'd seen that look on Phantom already, but seeing it on Danny was…sending up all sorts of warning bells.

"These guys can spot a trick a mile off, trust me."

Then Danny calmly put his thumb between the merman's top front fangs and pushed at the roof of his mouth. To her surprise the merman's jaw went instinctively limp, hanging open as the fangs were rendered useless and by association, so was Phantom's deadly grip. Once Danny had freed his captured arm, he removed his thumb from the roof of Phantom's mouth. The merman flicked his tongue once or twice up, as if soothing the spot, and sneezed, much to Danny's amusement. But Phantom didn't seem bothered by what Danny done. He seemed rather unphased; rather tame and mild over being controlled by Danny.

Danny smiled fondly and stood up with a final pat on the merman's scaley shoulder.

Interesting.

"It _really_ is beautiful down there, Val—"

For some reason, she bristled at the nickname. Mostly because she liked it, and because of that she got annoyed at herself. Folding her arms and leaning on one hip, she shot Danny a look that shut him up.

"Look, just forget it. I'm fine with how I do my job, and more importantly? So is Mr. Masters. _That's_ all that matters. Now, are we going or what?"

Danny and Phantom only shared a secret little smile, and followed Valerie into the ocean.

"Lead the way." Danny joked.

"Oh, shut up."

Phantom sniggered.

**oOo**

As Danny had reasoned last night, Phantom took up point, essentially dragging the humans through the waves. He swam above the water easily, ducking his head under every few beats to keep air flowing through his gills. Thanks to this, he easily pulled two near adults as they held into the tall fin on top of his tail. It had grown out, but still had three webbed fingers. Danny held the first, and Valerie had an alright grip on the second.

"It's not good to be out on top of the ocean without the skis, so when we get closer to Amity, Phantom's going to take us under." Danny called out above the flying white froth as Phantom surged ahead.

"I know that!" Valerie said back.

"Do you need any breathing caps?" Danny pulled out his, showing the tiny gray circle with its sideways nozzles that put it a little longer than then the length of a pen. Handy little things, they held less air than a tank obviously, but were good for seven to eight minutes of oxygen.

"I've still got one, thanks though."

Danny considered that 'thanks' progress.

Soon Amity Island was growing bigger. Between them was the wide open sea, with the potential for dangerous waves. Not to mention ocean liners, sea monsters, and sudden storms. The sky was clear though, and it was a gorgeous day so far. They were at least thankful for that. As Phantom pulled them farther over the ocean, Danny could sense the merman's anxiousness growing. Phantom wasn't a bottom dweller, but it made more sense to be under everything instead of over it, where you couldn't _see_. Something could come up below you, gain momentum, and snap you up or take a hunk out of your side before you knew what was going on. Finally Danny reached his free hand up and clapped the merman on the back to get his attention.

Valerie and he both had time to put the breathing caps in their mouths, just in time too. As soon as he was given the go ahead, Phantom reared up and plunged his long body down, down into the deep, dark ocean.

About five feet down, Danny let go of Phantom and stopped. Valerie shot him a surprised look, and was even more startled when Phantom shook her off and pivoted in place to face his human. He was watching Danny's moving hands expectantly, waiting for something.

Danny unclipped his belt and undid a few straps, before letting it go (the weights were in his pockets) and watching the now closed belt start to sink slowly. Phantom spotted it and dove through, and when it met his wide hips it stayed there, too small to go any farther down his tail. He wiggled it into place better, before giving a satisfied croon. The large merman flicked his hip fins, glancing back at the belt turned harness as Danny grabbed one of the loops of fabric. It was just the size for a human hand to wrap around, and there were one on each side, just above the black shoulders of his largest fins. Danny motioned to Valerie, showing her how to hold the strap. Once she had a solid grip on it, Phantom roared and streaked straight ahead.

Bubbles danced behind them, swept back in the merman's wake as he surged through the water. He swam in a gentle incline, so that when the reef floor came into focus, it was only a few inches below the swimming merman and humans. The wide, flat plane of underwater land spread out below them for miles, far back beyond anything they could see, and it was gorgeous. Danny kept an eye on Valerie, watching her wide eyes as Phantom pulled in stride with a pod of whales. He roared at them in greeting, swimming right alongside them. Danny let out a bubbly laugh as Phantom slowed to match their pace, and Danny reached out to run his palm over a whale just to his left. He saw Valerie move, her hand attentively slip out and glide over the dark gray skin. The whales didn't seem particularly bothered by any of this, they simply trundled on. Phantom threw Danny a smirk, and continued alongside the humpbacks, warbling playfully at a baby humpback that was hiding under what must have been its mother. They spent some time listening to the sounds of the whales baying and singing into the ocean as they swam. It was one thing to hear it, either from land or a ship. But to be right next to the whales as they sang? It was amazing, even if it was a little loud for the sensitive merman, who shook himself and bid farewell, turning off the course and toward Amity's rising earth. They left the whales behind, nearing Amity's expansive reef and soon cleared the drop off.

Rippling sand blurred beneath them as Phantom rode a current. He angled himself and they swooped under a large rock formation. Brilliant sea life broke the blues, sharp reds and deep yellows and greens, every color in the rainbow glimmering from algae to little tiny fish. Phantom spotted an even lower tunnel and swung into it, scales glowing. Halfway through, Danny let go, and grabbed Valerie's wrist. She let go too, and Phantom continued through the tunnel. The light went with him, and when he vanished, both humans found themselves surrounded by brilliant glowing algae, bright enough for them to read by. Danny caught Valerie's look of wonder, and she tried to fight it down. He just grinned, and turned over his shoulder to see Phantom swimming back through, taking extra care to rub past Danny like an affectionate cat as he moved back into place. Two hands snagged the handles, and Phantom pulled them from the cave.

They came out upside down, the merman swinging in lazy corkscrews as he glided past a school of silver fish, which scattered. Light danced round the underwater world, flickering greens and blues darting in and out. As Phantom lazily rode the water, his arms rested at his sides, large fins spread to catch the currents as he coasted. With a few flaps and a pound of his tail he had doubled his speed in seconds and spun them dizzily. The humans heard singing, light and cheerful and pleasant. When they turned to look, they saw mermaid, curled up on rocks, brushing hair and playing with shells, and all of them with sweet lips parted and moving as they practiced their songs. Desiree winked at Danny, and Ember stuck out her tongue at Phantom who mimicked her, cackling in his throat as he passed them.

Phantom swam low and smacked a sleeping Skulker with his tail, crooning as he turned back to see the merman shaking his fist at them. Even Valerie giggled, and Danny's smile grew. Phantom pulled them round a formation of pointed rocks, into a little rounded area. This was the bottom of the cove, and with a wave of his tail Phantom headed for the surface.

The merman slid up onto the sand beach a second later, salt water spraying everywhere as Danny and Valerie went with him, floundering to get their feet under them before the waves withdrew and toppled them. Phantom didn't have to worry, he held fast, digging his talons deep and sliding up onto a wide rock when he saw Danny walk onto the dry shore.

"….that was…."

From where he was standing and catching his breath, the blue eyed boy looked up.

"Did you like it?" Danny smiled, he knew the answer.

Valerie found both boys looking at her, Danny's expression soft and amused and Phantom's startlingly intelligent gaze fixed on her.

"I mean, well…it was, yeah it wasn't that bad."

Danny's smile grew a bit. Progress indeed.


End file.
